Up to ten films can receive a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but this year there were only 9. So why didn’t the potential number of nominees fill up, and why wasn’t one of them Potter?

The answer is simple and telling: A film has to receive more than 5% of the votes to make the cut. Which means Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 faired very poorly in this category. Only 9 films received more than 5% of the vote.

UPDATE: Thanks to Hypable reader Teris and Russell for pointing out that they need 5% of the *first place* votes. In other words, 5% of the voters had to have put Deathly Hallows – Part 2 as their first choice to win.

This, despite the fact that Warner Brothers pushed Deathly Hallows – Part 2 heavily in hopes they could send the franchise out on a big amount of recognition.

Nonetheless the film did receive nominations in Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction categories.