Fan-favorite ‘Reagan’ biopic misses Oscars’ Best Picture consideration over DEI requirements

Fan-favorite presidential biopic “Reagan” has been disqualified from consideration for the Best Picture Oscar this year — because it failed to meet the judges’ DEI requirements.

The movie, starring Dennis Quaid as the Republican president, couldn’t hit any of the criteria that the Academy for Motion Pictures requires of Best Picture nominations, including that their casts be at least 30% from traditionally underrepresented groups such as minorities, women and the LGBTQ community.

“By these new rules, many previous winners would never have been recognized,” said “Reagan” screenwriter Howard A. Klausner to The Post.

That list includes legendary flicks such as “The Godfather,’’ “Patton’’ and “Rocky,” claimed Ed Feulner, a former domestic policy adviser under Reagan, in an opinion piece in the Washington Times.

The film’s producer Mark, Joseph, evoking one of Reagan’s own famous lines to complain about Hollywood’s leftist establishment, quipped to The Post.”There they go again.”

“Reagan” — which follows the story of President Ronal Reagan from his small-town middle-America beginnings to Hollywood to the White House — had a cast that was almost entirely white.

Best Picture nominations must hit at least two of four diversity criteria, including involving their cast and having some members of the typically underrepresented groups work in production off-camera, assist in marketing or fill paid internships.

“Reagan” did not meet any of the requirements, which do not apply for all Oscars awards, just Best Picture.

“We were among 116 films that were eliminated for consideration this year,” Klausner said as the famed awards ceremony was set to be held Sunday evening. “Obviously, there needs to be a conversation about this policy.”

Despite its lack of Oscars attention, “Reagan” commands a glowing 98% audience approval rating on the film-scoring website Rotten Tomatoes, although it also garnered a dismal 18% critics score.

Joseph said he plans to apply for a Guinness World Record for greatest disparity between everyday viewers’ and critics’ approval of a movie.

His film — made by the independent production company Voltage Pictures for just $25 million — was released in theaters in August and netted nearly $30 million at the box office.

On top of missing a Best Picture nomination, it was not nominated for any other Oscars.

It did receive seven awards nominations from other groups, but six were from the parody Golden Raspberry Awards, AKA the Razzies, IMDB shows.

They included nominations for “Worst Picture,” “Worst Actor” for Dennis Quaid and “Worst Supporting Actor” for Jon Voight, which he won.

Miller did win “Outstanding Performance In a Historical Drama” from the Family Film Awards for her portrayal of the former first lady.

The Academy’s diversity requirements have been a source of fraught controversy since they were first announced in 2020 amid criticisms of low diversity in Hollywood. Last year’s awards was the first where the rules were into effect.