'Expend4bles', 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey' and 'The Exorcist: Believer' Were All Just Nominated for Razzies
The latest 'Magic Mike', 'Shazam!', 'Ant-Man' and 'Indiana Jones' films are all up for awards as well.
If you didn't have a great time watching some of cinema's many sequels, remakes and riffs on well-known characters in 2023, you weren't alone: franchise fare and flicks linked to familiar figures scored big among the nominations for the 44th Golden Raspberry Awards. These annual accolades include a specific category for Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel, but perusing its current list of contenders means seeing titles that continue sagas and the like everywhere — including all five movies vying for Worst Picture.
Up for the award: The Exorcist: Believer, Expend4bles, Meg 2: The Trench, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. Among the rest of the fields, they have company from Fast X, Magic Mike's Last Dance, Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania and Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny. As everyone already knows, last year was a great year to be Barbenheimer, which showed that films that weren't follow-ups could amass a massive audience. The same can't be said for movies that arrived with a been-there-done-that vibe already baked in.
Obviously, not all flicks can be excellent. Some are, and gongs like the Golden Globes and Oscars reward them accordingly. For those that aren't, the Razzies make its choices — and from 2023's releases, Expend4bles leads the way with seven nominations, including for Worst Supporting Actor (Sylvester Stallone), Worst Supporting Actress (Megan Fox), Worst Screen Couple (for any two "merciless mercenaries"), Worst Director (Scott Waugh), the aforementioned Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel, and Worst Screenplay.
If you're wondering where Fast X was recognised, Vin Diesel received a Worst Actor nod. Magic Mike's Last Dance picked up nominations for Worst Actress (Salma Hayek) and Worst Screen Couple (Hayek with Channing Tatum). Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania has two contenders for Worst Supporting Actor in Michael Douglas and Bill Murray — plus director and sequel — and Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny pops up in the sequel and screenplay camps.
Among the other big-name actors, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are on the list for action-comedy Ghosted, and so is Russell Crowe for The Pope's Exorcist (exorcism movies were big in 2023, and with the Razzies). Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu got the nod for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Jennifer Lopez for The Mother and Jason Statham for Meg 2: The Trench, while Megan Fox picked up a second nomination for Johnny & Clyde.
Sometimes, films receiving the Razzies' attention also earn some Oscars love, as Elvis and Blonde did last year. That seems less likely in 2024, but the Golden Raspberry Awards are always timed to make the comparison. Its nominations drop the day before the Oscars do the same and, when it anoints its winners on Sunday, March 10, Australian and New Zealand time, it'll also do so the day before the Academy Awards ceremony.
Check out the full list of Razzie nominees below:
Golden Raspberry Nominees 2023:
Worst Picture:
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Meg 2: The Trench
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst Actor:
Russell Crowe, The Pope's Exorcist
Vin Diesel, Fast X
Chris Evans, Ghosted
Jason Statham, Meg 2: The Trench
Jon Voight, Mercy
Worst Actress:
Ana de Armas, Ghosted
Megan Fox, Johnny & Clyde
Salma Hayek, Magic Mike's Last Dance
Jennifer Lopez, The Mother
Helen Mirren, Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Worst Supporting Actor:
Michael Douglas, Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Mel Gibson, Confidential Informant
Bill Murray, Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Franco Nero (as The Pope), The Pope's Exorcist
Sylvester Stallone, Expend4ables
Worst Supporting Actress:
Kim Cattrall, About My Father
Megan Fox, Expend4bles
Bai Ling, Johnny & Clyde
Lucy Liu, Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Mary Stuart Masterson, Five Nights at Freddy's
Worst Screen Couple:
Any two "merciless mercenaries", Expend4bles
Any two money-grubbing investors who donated to the $400 million for remake rights to The Exorcist
Ana de Armas and Chris Evans (who flunked screen chemistry), Ghosted
Salma Hayek and Channing Tatum, Magic Mike's Last Dance
Pooh and Piglet as blood-thirsty slasher/killers in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst Director:
Rhys Frake-Waterfield, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer
Peyton Reed, Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Scott Waugh, Expend4bles
Ben Wheatley, Meg 2: The Trench
Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel:
Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst Screenplay:
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood & Honey
The Golden Raspberry Awards will be announced on Sunday, March 10, Australian and New Zealand time. For further details, head to the awards' website.