Why You Shouldn't Be Too Disappointed That 'Last Jedi' Didn't Receive Any Globes Noms

Another batch of Golden Globe nominations, another snubbed Star Wars movie — or is it really a snub after all? If you’re wondering why The Last Jedi wasn’t nominated for Golden Globes in 2018, please know in your heart that the answer (probably) has nothing to do with how good the movie is. Instead, it presumably has everything to do with the premiere date of Rian Johnson’s truly terrific contribution to the Star Wars franchise.

For a feature film to be considered for the 75th Globes, it had to be released between Jan. 1, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2017. The Last Jedi hit theaters in Dec. 15, so that should be that, right? Like the bogs of Dagobah, the plot thickens. The movie had its world premiere on Dec. 9, and the cut-off for the Golden Globe nomination votes was Dec. 7. So, the newest chapter in the Star Wars film universe wasn’t made available to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association before the Golden Globe nominations were due.

Before you’re like, “Hey, there’s always the 2019 Globes,” remember: A movie can’t be nominated for any awards if it didn’t come out during the calendar year prior. Sadly, The Last Jedi will never receive any Golden Globes love.

The Star Wars franchise should be used to this at this point. Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered on Dec. 14, 2015, seven days after the 73rd Golden Globe nomination ballots had to be turned in. And Rogue One: A Star Wars Story premiered on Dec. 10, 2016, just one day after the nomination deadline. Like The Last Jedi, neither Rogue One nor The Force Awakens were up for any Golden Globes. As the Los Angeles Times put it when the HFPA released the 2018 nominations on Dec. 11:

“The Walt Disney Co. also held back showing 2015’s ‘The Force Awakens’ and last year’s ‘Rogue One’ for the HFPA, rendering those films similarly ineligible for consideration. (‘Last Jedi’ will, however, be eligible for Oscar consideration. ‘Force Awakens’ received five Oscar nominations and “Rogue One” earned two.)”

Of course, this nomination cut-off date doesn’t always deter members of the HFPA from giving to-be-released movies their vote: The Greatest Showman was nominated for some Globes, even though it didn’t have its world premiere until Dec. 8 and didn’t show up in theaters until Dec. 20. And historical drama All the Money in the World premiered on Dec. 18 and hit theaters on Dec. 25, but still nabbed some noms. However, as Variety pointed out after the nominations were released, this probably has to do with these movies being made available to voters, whereas The Last Jedi was kept under lock and key until the Dec. 9 world premiere:

“The group seemed to want it clear that the two movies they had more or less exclusively seen by the time voting wrapped — Ridley Scott’s ‘All the Money in the World' and Michael Gracey’s ‘The Greatest Showman’ — were theirs to elevate in the awards race this season … One film the group did not see in time was ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi,’ which did not screen in any capacity until the world premiere Saturday night.”

The HFPA didn’t see The Last Jedi in time, and so they did not nominate it; once again, the nomination ballot due date strikes back. Yeah, it’s a bummer that the great movie isn’t up for any Globes, but it doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Now, if The Last Jedi isn’t nominated for any Academy Awards?

Go ahead and climb atop one of the hills of Ahch-To and shout, “May the snub be with you!”