In 2002 Paul Greengrass's Bloody Sunday was released to great reviews, and seemed a potential nominee for several Academy Awards. Unfortunately, Bloody Sunday broke the Academy's "Rule 3", which requires a six-month wait between the time it is shown in theaters and the time it is shown on TV. Bloody Sunday premiered on Irish and British TV the same night that it premiered in London cinemas. Paramount Classics, the films distributor, even tried to get a waiver for the film so that it could be considered for the Oscars, but the Academy denied any waiver.

Now, HDnet, a pay TV service, is running "sneak peaks" - usually two showings of a film just days before their release. The next official sneak peak is of Flawless, a heist movie starring Michael Caine and Demi Moore. True, this film had already been released in Europe in 2007, and isn't scheduled for a U.S. release until March 28th, 2008. The sneak peak is scheduled for March 26th. Does this TV showing disqualify the film for Oscar nominations come early next year? Not that I'm suggesting it's a candidate for awards, but at some point HDnet might just get a hold of a little picture, like Bloody Sunday, that may be award worthy. Suppose they had had a sneak peak of Juno, a little film that seemed to come out of the blue and surprise many people. Does the fact that HDnet is a pay service, and not a basic over the air channel enter into the equation?

I don't think the fact that Flawless has already been released to European markets in 2007 disqualifies it for 2008 Oscars -- Life is Beautiful was released in Italy in 1997, didn't get released in the US until Autumn of 1998, and went on to garner nominations with other 1998 releases in early 1999 (heck, it was still garnering awards into 2000).

Does anyone know the specific Academy rules, and is this new trend a possible thorn in the side for the Academy? Has the Academy changed their Rule 3, since many films now hit DVD and pay-per-view TV within 3 to 4 months of theatrical release?


Addendum:
Interestingly, Bloody Sunday did premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2002 - 9 days before its premiere in London theatres and British and Irish TV. Of course, Park City, Utah is definitely not New York or Los Angeles... the two cities that the Academy requires films to be shown in for Oscar consideration. Damn you, Robert Redford, for picking such an out of the way spot for your festival!