'Passengers' May Be Up For A Golden Globe Or Two

Awards season is nigh and the first ceremony to formally announce its nominations are the Golden Globes. With a focus primarily on film and prestige television programs, the Golden Gobes will happen in January 2017, unofficially inaugurating a new awards season. Among those popular and critically-acclaimed films and performances in conversation, Passengers could actually net a nomination. But given its late December release date, is Passengers even eligible for the Golden Globes' consideration? There's definitely a chance for Passengers to not only get considered but, more importantly, it could be worthy of Golden Globes consideration based on its cast, crew, and subject matter.

The rules for Golden Globes eligibility are relatively straightforward. A film is eligible for Golden Globes consideration if "they are made available for exhibition in theatres or on pay-per-view cable or pay-per-view digital delivery in the greater Los Angeles area for a minimum seven-day period beginning prior to midnight, December 31 of the qualifying year." While it's certainly interesting that the fact of a film must be screened in Los Angeles for a seven-day period is part of the qualifications, that is assumed given that Passengers will have a nationwide theatrical release. Additionally, Passengers will be released on December 21, just 10 days before the eligibility deadline for the 2017 Golden Globes.

Passengers may just be one of the most hotly anticipated films of 2016. To be fair, when placed against more aesthetically vibrant films like La La Land , or emotionally-charged films like Moonlight and Jackie, it may feel like Passengers is too much of blockbuster to be awards material. This is simply not the case if only because the pedigree of Passengers is too high quality to ignore. Passengers originated on the Blacklist, a list of the most talked about unproduced films in Hollywood. Additionally, the Passengers script has been sought for production since 2007 and that kind of long-standing cachet could contribute to the kind of critical and popular attention it receives.

Even better, it's led by arguably two of the biggest, most versatile, and most bankable actors in Hollywood: Pratt and Lawrence. With Jurassic Park and The Magnificent Seven , Pratt's enjoyed a booming career over the last few years. Lawrence earned a Golden Globe for Best Actress and an Oscar nomination for her role in Joy in 2015; in general, she's been a fixture in awards season conversations for the last few years. This kind of star power will not go unnoticed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the main voting body for the Golden Globes.

The Golden Globes nominees will be announced on Monday December 12 and with it, there will certainly be a few surprises. With Passengers fully eligible to be nominated, I don't think we should count this one out of the race just yet.

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