Golden Globes changes comedy award rules to stop films like The Martian winning again

'Dramas with comedic overtones should be entered as dramas.'

(Getty)

In the wake of The Martian winning the Golden Globe Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy despite having approximately two (semi) comedic moments, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has issued an 11-page set of revamped rules for award categories in time for the 2017 ceremony.

Judd Apatow most famously called out The Martian’s win this year, saying those kind of award-straddling films “pick whatever category” they want to be in.

“I got Matt Damon staring at me right now, after that whole ‘Golden Globe comedy’ thing,” he said on stage at the Critics’ Choice Awards. “We only have one award Matt, that’s all we get. I’m like a nerd on the schoolyard and you stole my milk money.”

The clause most pertinent to this in the HFPA’s new guidelines stipulates that ‘dramas with comedic overtones should be entered as dramas’, not comedies.

Other changes mean that actors can not be nominated for cameo appearances playing themselves and films that are less than 75 percent animation are not Animated Feature Films - you can read the full 11-page document here.