Academy announces expanded theatrical standards for Best Picture eligibility beginning with 2024 films

Christopher Rosen
·4 min read

Best Picture nominees feel good in a place like this.

On Wednesday, the academy and its board of governors announced expansions to the theatrical eligibility requirements for Best Picture Oscar contenders that will go into effect starting with the 97th Academy Awards in 2025.

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As detailed in a press release given to some outlets in advance, the “new requirements” will seek to “broaden the public theatrical exhibition criteria” for Best Picture hopefuls. The current requirement is an initial one-week awards qualifying run in one of six U.S. cities, including New York and Los Angeles. The new rules, however, will extend the standards to include further theatrical distribution for at least seven additional days (consecutive or non-consecutive) in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets no later than 45 days after the initial release.

“For late-in-the-year films with expansions after January 10, 2025, distributors must submit release plans to the Academy for verification,” the academy said in a statement. “Release plans for late-in-the-year films must include a planned expanded theatrical run, as described above, to be completed no later than January 24, 2025.”

According to the academy, “non-U.S. territory releases can count towards two of the 10 markets. Qualifying non-U.S. markets include the top 15 international theatrical markets plus the home territory for the film.”

“As we do every year, we have been reviewing and assessing our theatrical eligibility requirements for the Oscars,” said academy CEO Bill Kramer and academy president Janet Yang. “In support of our mission to celebrate and honor the arts and sciences of moviemaking, it is our hope that this expanded theatrical footprint will increase the visibility of films worldwide and encourage audiences to experience our art form in a theatrical setting. Based on many conversations with industry partners, we feel that this evolution benefits film artists and movie lovers alike.”

The new rules won’t impact the 2023 awards contenders but will likely force major streaming platforms to reconsider release strategies heading into 2024. Many services, like Apple and Amazon, have begun to add a significant theatrical component to the rollout of original films. Apple, for instance, partnered with Paramount for the upcoming release of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and struck a deal with Sony for Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon.” Amazon, meanwhile, released Ben Affleck’s “Air” in theaters around the world back in April before it dropped on the company’s streaming platform. Other streamers, chiefly Netflix, have avoided large-scale film releases. But even Netflix, which usually releases its prestige films in limited theatrical runs in New York and Los Angeles, did put “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” in theaters around the country for an exclusive run last year.

While the expansion of theatrical requirements for Best Picture could, in theory, keep smaller indie releases from being eligible for the Oscars’ top prize, the new rules are only applicable to Best Picture. “Eligibility for achievements in the various discipline categories will not be impacted by this requirement,” the academy said in its release, throwing cold water on a notion promoted by Vanity Fair that suggested the 2023 Oscars underdog “To Leslie” “is a prime example of the sort of film that might not be able to make the new requirement.” While the film (which wasn’t a Best Picture nominee) may not have been eligible itself, star Andrea Riseborough (who was a surprise nominee for Best Actress) still would have made the cut.

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