It’s back to the future for the Oscars.

After two pandemic years in which Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Hulu, and other streamers could qualify their films just on streaming platforms, the party is over.

The Motion Picture Academy has decreed that only movies that play in theaters will be eligible for the gold statues.

Academy Awards of Merit shall be given annually to honor outstanding artistic and scientific
achievements in theatrically released feature-length motion pictures, and to honor other
achievements as provided for in these rules and approved by the Board of Governors.

Films that, in any version, receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than
as a theatrical motion picture release will not be eligible for Academy Awards in any category.
Nontheatrical public exhibition or distribution includes but is not limited to:
• Broadcast and cable television
• PPV/VOD
• DVD distribution
• Inflight airline distribution
• Internet transmission

The complete rules for the 2023 Oscars are here.

This return to old form isn’t great news for coming films like Apple’s “Cha Cha” or Netflix’s “Gray Man.” Also, this past season, the streamers did little to put their films in theaters at all. Best Picture winner “CODA” was almost entirely shown on the platform and not available widely in theaters.

But this change shouldn’t come as a surprise to the industry. Theater owners are struggling to stay alive at this point. The pandemic forced closures everywhere, particularly hard hit was Hollywood itself where the ArcLight Theaters were shut down as well as the Cinerama Dome. In New York, the lone free standing theater, the Paris, is leased for the time being to Netflix so they can exhibit their films according to eligibility rules.

The other frustration, of course, is that streamers that do put movies in theaters, even for a short time and in limited release, do not report box office numbers. So no one except the studio has any idea if anyone saw their film. In the case of “CODA,” for example, the release was briefly to 600 theaters. The gross was around $1 million.

Tom Cruise appeared in Cannes this afternoon for a career retrospective discussion live on stage in front of an audience.

It was NOT a Q&A because the audience was not allowed questions. The moderator just allowed Cruise to ramble on, making inane and blank statements about filmmaking.

I know all this because both Variety and the New York Times covered it on Twitter. Variety’s Ramin Setoodeh also posted videos.

Setoodeh noted that in the montage of Cruise’s films, the only co-star omitted was Nicole Kidman, his ex wife. They made three films together: “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Days of Thunder,” and “Far and Away.”

The moderator apparently just let Tom talk and talk espousing drivel. He compared making films to growing flowers, and said he “learned a lot” from making sequels.

From the videos and reports, Tom came across as a combination of Chauncey Gardner, Robert Redford’s “Candidate,” and Hal Phillip Walker from “Nashville.”

There were no questions about his actual life, his children, or when the last time was he’s seen his 16 year old daughter, Suri. Or whether she’ll get a discount pass to see “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Here’s an absolutely nauseating video:

Tom Cruise compares making movies to growing a flower. #Cannes2022 pic.twitter.com/MXc1RMs0tn

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 18, 2022

UPDATED MONDAY MAY 23RD: I’ve added at bottom a character poster released today. It features Ana de Armas, with the word “Untraceable” across the center. My friend Ed Douglas said on Twitter: “No false advertising there” LOL. Tomorrow comes the trailer.

For a long time, everything was fine. And then, suddenly, it wasn’t.

Today Netflix laid off 150 people — at least — after a previous layoff last month of at least twenty five.

These aren’t anonymous people in other countries. The newly dispensed with were editorial employees, mostly in Los Angeles, who worked on Netflix’s Tudum social media. There are also 70 people from the animation department gone, and they may or may not be included in the count.

Netflix stock went off a cliff on April 18th after the company reported not just stalled growth, but the loss of 200,000 subscribers. They predicted the defection of 2 million more.

click here for today’s Showbiz411 headlines

The stock has not rebounded. A month later, Netflix is trading at around $190. A month ago it was almost twice that, at $348. Six months ago, Netflix stock was at $690. So you can see, there is a problem.

But the problems are not just defecting subscribers. Netflix has spent money like a group of sailors on wild binges all over the world. Millions have been thrown after Oscars and other awards that have not come in no matter how good the movies or the actors. Cannes doesn’t let their movies in because they don’t play in French theaters. In the US there’s a lurking resistance to Netflix because it undercuts the theatrical distribution business, what used to be the heart of the film industry.

Just to put this in focus, there’s also the issue of the actual movies. Netflix has repeatedly gone for the esoteric — long, expensive, hard to understand, works of art. Think “The Power of the Dog” or “Roma.” They’ve committed to a lot of movies which, at their conclusion, viewers say, “I didn’t understand it.”

To that end, Netflix is now awaiting their most expensive release. “The Gray Man” cost by some estimates $220 million. I reported a year ago March that the budget had sailed over $200 million. There’s been an overall sense of ‘more is more’ with “The Gray Man.”

But less than two months from release, there is no updated trailer. Just one from over a year ago, and some cobbled together by fans on You Tube.

The film is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. who went from TV to making “Avengers” movies at Disney-Marvel. They are not known for subtlety. In 2019, they released a two-and-a-half hour non-comic book movie, “Cherry,” starring Tom Holland, aka Spider Man. It got pasted by critics — 37% on Rotten Tomatoes. No one knows what its finances were since it was released on Apple TV Plus, which, like Netflix, is a streamer and gives no figures.

“The Gray Man” is top heavy with starry names: Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, plus Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, and “Bridgerton” star Regé-Jean Page. In the past, movies with giant, expanding budgets (see “Waterworld,” “The Postman,” “Ishtar,” etc) that were rumored to be looming disasters proved the gossip correct.

No one knows yet if the Russo’s managed to pull “The Gray Man” together, or if it’s a ticking time bomb. It’s possible that some people do know, actually, and these layoffs may be a way to jettison weight from a boat filling with water. “The Gray Man” is a $220 million movie without superheroes or special effects, not part of a franchise, basically a spy movie a la the “Bourne” adventures. And despite having no current trailer available, it’s coming in two months.

Let’s hope it’s great with a capital G!

Here’s the year old trailer for “The Gray Man”: