Here’s Why ‘The Last Jedi’ Might Not Get Any Golden Globe Noms

People have been loving the most recent Star Wars films. But despite the fan appreciation, there hasn't been much award-show love for the sci-fi mega-blockbusters. And when it comes to whether Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be eligible for any Golden Globes at the 2018 award show, it technically will, but there's a good chance it won't get any nominations.

While the latest installment in the Skywalker saga technically has an eligible release date that doesn't mean that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Golden Globes, got a chance to see the movie before it closed its votes. This could mean that while eligible, the movie won't get any nominations.

According to the Golden Globes' official eligibility rules and deadlines, in order to be considered for an award in the upcoming 75th annual ceremony a feature length film has to be released between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2017. This certainly applies to Episode VIII (it will be released Dec. 15 — get excited!), but the final deadline for an official screening for the 93 voting members in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was Dec. 4. This early viewing date has seemed to be a sticking point in the past for Disney and LucasFilm, the famously secretive forces behind the Star Wars franchise; both The Force Awakens in 2015 and Rogue One in 2016 had near Christmas release dates.

To be clear, many big award-contenders have wide releases after the screener deadline, closer to mid or late December to pick up on holiday traffic. This year alone there's Ridley Scott's J. Paul Getty biopic All the Money in the World (Dec. 25), and the The Post (Dec. 22), which boasts a venerable who's who of Oscar-winners, with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in the lead roles and Steven Spielberg directing. But, they still could have been viewed by the HFPA ahead of time. These films put a lot of stock in award-nominations; people are more willing to see a serious drama if they hear it's been nominated. This is not as much the case with Star Wars, which draws millions of fans to buy pre-sale tickets on its name alone.

When it comes to The Last Jedi, it's unclear if the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was able to score a preview screening. Mashable is reporting that the first time the movie will screen anywhere is this Saturday, Dec. 9. Movie critics will not have access to it until then, with a strict embargo set for Tuesday, Dec. 12. Though this gives reviewers more time than they had with The Force Awakens, it's still a close turnaround. Like it's previous films, Disney and LucasFilm might not want to risk showing the movie to anyone more than a few days before the official release date out of fear that plot points would leak before the public got a chance to check it out for themselves.

After all, Star Wars is the franchise that basically revolutionized the mind-boggling, don't-spoil-it-for-anybody twist, back in 1980 with the Empire Strikes Back when you-know-who was revealed to be Luke Skywalker's father.

Even though Star Wars doesn't need a Golden Globe nomination to convince the masses buy movie tickets, it's still a shame that it could be missing out on some much deserved recognition. While the Golden Globes doesn't have any special effects-related awards — the category Star Wars most often qualifies for as the Academy Awards — the actors continue to put forth great performances. The Last Jedi is the last chance for the late-great Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia to be nominated for a Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

The Golden Globes nominations are officially announced on Monday, Dec. 11, so it's still anybody's guess on who they'll decide to honor Star Wars with a nod this year. Though we probably won't see any love given to The Last Jedi this time around, there's still hope for other award shows — including the Oscars.