The Stephen Hawking biopic 'The Theory of Everything' has claimed the top spot on the UK box office, pushing 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' into second place after three weeks as champ. This was a surprisingly strong performance for a British movie about a maths genius, but awards-season buzz has raised awareness of the film over recent weeks as other biopics have suffered from backlash.

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything'
Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything'

One of Lyndon Johnson's advisors has criticised the Oscar contender 'Selma' of exaggerating the clash between the president (played by Tom Wilkinson in the film) and Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo).

More: Read The Reviews For 'The Theory Of Everything'

The New York Review of Books attacked 'The Imitation Game' for falsely portraying Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) as a semi-autistic nerd who seems to only love the computer he invented.

More: See Eddie Reymane as Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory Of Everything' Trailer

And the harshest criticism of all has been aimed at 'Foxcatcher', as Mark Schultz (played by Channing Tatum in the film) levelled an all-caps rant at director Bennett Miller for including gay subtext in the film, despite the fact that Schultz didn't notice it when he was on-set helping make the movie, or travelling with it to festivals and premieres.

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So why has 'The Theory of Everything' escaped this criticism? Partly because it was made in such close collaboration with Hawking and his ex-wife Jane, on whose book the film is based. It also, of course, helps that Eddie Redmayne's performance is so extraordinary that it can't help but gather attention heading into the final stretch of the awards circuit.

But then all of these films are still serious awards contenders. And frankly these attacks aren't anything particularly new.