How ‘Twilight’ Forced the MTV Movie Awards to Grow Up This Year

For years, the MTV Movie Awards did everything in its power to distance itself from the stuffy, serious Academy Awards. They gave out prizes for Best Fight and Best Kiss. They nominated films like ‘Twilight’ and ‘Harry Potter’ (which the Academy rarely bothered to do) and they won all the awards. But now, it sounds like MTV is reversing gears and trying to clean up its act … at least a little bit.

The Hollywood Reporter says the June edition of the MTV Movie Awards will add a few new categories, drop a few others, and introduce a panel of industry professionals – dubbed their “academy” – who will vote on nominees for the assorted categories, instead of online-savvy fans of Robert Pattinson. In addition, a panel of directors will vote in a “breakthrough performance” winner.

Once nominees have been selected by the “Academy,” voting opens up to fans on May 1. The show is scheduled for June 3 at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City.

“We want to make sure some of the unexpected, smaller, quirkier films have a chance,” MTV president Stephen Friedman told THR, a not-so-pointed reference to the 'Twilight' dominance in years past.

According to the report, the popular Best Kiss and Best Fight aren’t going anywhere. But new categories will try and establish a deeper connection between music in the movies. Makes sense: MTV did, at one point, stand for “Music Television.”

Along with the changes being announced, MTV revealed that the pop band fun. will be one of three musical acts scheduled to perform. We’re likely to hear more format tweaks in the coming weeks, and probably learn the host (which usually is more important than the categories, to be honest with you). But do you care about the categories? Or do you just want to see your favorite stars joking, laughing, and having fun in a laid-back environment that’s the ideal counter-programming to the annual Oscars telecast?

Here, according to THR, are the new categories for 2012:

Best Music
Best On-Screen Transformation
Best Gut-Wrenching Performance
Best Cast
Best On-Screen Dirt Bag

And here are the retired categories from 2011:

Best Villain
Best Scared-as-Shit Performance
Best Jaw Dropping Moment
Biggest Badass Star
Best Line from a Movie