Johnny Depp's fans look set to take an extreme step to try and revive his career, as they launch a campaign to get his most recent film honoured at this year's Oscars, despite it not having received a single nomination.
After years of delays as a result of controversy surrounding legal cases between Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, Minamata - which stars Depp as a war photographer who works to expose the mercury poisoning of residents of a town in Japan - was finally released in the United States earlier this month, 18 months after receiving its official premiere.
Despite gaining relatively positive reviews from critics, the film has been shown barely anywhere, and made virtually no impression at the box office. Unsurprisingly, especially given it has no major studio to back it, the Oscars didn't recognise Minamata in its traditional categories.
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But fans of Depp have spotted a way for the film, and its star, to potentially make an appearance during the ceremony regardless.
Following concerns over dwindling audience numbers and complaints about a lack of diversity among its nominees, the Academy has made a few changes to the Oscars this year.
Among them is the introduction of a new category - '#OscarsFanFavourite' - which offers fans the chance to vote for their favourite film of the year by tweeting using the hashtag.
The idea has been ridiculed by many, with one longtime Academy voter telling Deadline 'I’m trying to think of a dumber move the Academy has made.' And sure enough, as with any well-intentioned hashtag-based Twitter poll, it's been ripe for being taken advantage of by fans trying to game the system.
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According to people who have been keeping a tally of the votes, Zack Snyder’s Justice League (aka the Snyder cut) took an early lead in the poll despite not even being eligible at this year's Oscars, before Cinderella, the widely panned fairytale adaptation starring Camila Cabello, raced to the front.
Now, it seems like Depp's fans have cottoned on to the vote, with social media in recent days flooded with tweets urging people to vote for Minamata under the #OscarsFanFavourite hashtag.
To be clear, the winner of the category won't be awarded an actual Oscar, and there's actually not that much information about how the Academy plans to recognise the 'Fan's Favourite,' aside from Entertainment Weekly reporting that the winner will be announced during the live ceremony.
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But we'd guess that even if Depp's fans do manage to get Minamata to the top of the poll, we won't be seeing him on stage at the Oscars any time soon.
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Topics: Johnny Depp, Oscars, Film and TV