Oscars Will Require Expanded Theatrical Runs for Best Picture Eligibility for 2025 Awards

The rules are particularly restrictive for films that wish to compete in the Best Picture category

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The Oscars have instituted stricter rules for theatrical distribution for the March 2025 awards, the Academy announced Monday.

The new rules, which were passed and initially announced last year but are being put in effect for the 97th Academy Awards, will require a film to have a one-week qualifying run in six different metropolitan areas: Los Angeles County, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth. Drive-in theaters will no longer count to qualify films.

In addition, films that wish to compete in the Best Picture category must have an extended run of seven days (consecutive or nonconsecutive) in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets, with those runs taking place no less than 45 days after their initial 2024 release.

Those extended runs can take place in 2025, but distributors must submit their release plans to the Academy for verification and the runs must by completed by Jan. 24, 2025.

The rules for theatrical exhibition were relaxed and even removed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Academy has slowly taken steps to restore them in the face of the movie industry’s move from a theatrical model to one that makes greater use of streaming services.

The new rules are the strongest statement yet that the Academy is committed to theatrical exhibition.

Other rule changes affected the Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score and screenplay categories. In addition, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award will now come in the form of an Oscar statuette rather than a bust of Thalberg, while the language describing the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award has been changed so that rather than saying it is for “humanitarian efforts,” the rules now specify that it is “given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities.”

Read the AMPAS press release in full below:

For Academy Awards consideration, a feature film must have a qualifying theatrical release between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024. Drive-in theaters will no longer be a means of qualification, and the six qualifying U.S. metropolitan areas will now include Dallas-Fort Worth, in addition to Los Angeles County; the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; and Atlanta, Georgia.

In the Best Picture category, the expanded theatrical eligibility requirements, approved by the Board of Governors in June 2023, will take effect for the 97th Oscars®. Upon completion of an initial qualifying run, currently defined as a one-week theatrical release in one of the six U.S. qualifying cities, a film must meet the following additional theatrical standards for Best Picture eligibility:

·    Expanded theatrical run of seven days, consecutive or non-consecutive, in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets, no later than 45 days after the initial release in 2024.

·    For late-in-the-year films with expansions after January 10, 2025, distributors must submit release plans to the Academy for verification.

·    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.

·    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.

In addition to the theatrical eligibility requirements, eligibility for consideration in the Best Picture category remains contingent upon submission of a confidential Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form and the film meeting the requirements of two of the four standards. Also, distributors and/or producing teams should submit for PGA Mark Certification or awards determination no later than the date of the film’s first commercial screening in its qualifying run.

Other awards rules changes include:
 

·    Animated feature films submitted in the International Feature Film category are now eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category if eligibility requirements outlined for both categories are met.

·    The new eligibility period for the International Feature Film category is November 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024.

·    In the Music (Original Score) category, three composers will be allowed to receive individual statuettes if, in rare circumstances, they all contributed fully to the score. Previously, three composers were required to submit as a group. The rules now clarify the definition of a group as a recognized band. The shortlist will increase from 15 to 20 titles.

·    In the Writing categories, a final shooting script will now be required for submission.

·    Changes were also made to the testimonial awards presented at the Governors Awards. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given to a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production, will now be presented as an Oscar® statuette. The definition of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was revised to clarify the broad term humanitarian efforts; the award will be “given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities.”

·    Two special awards presented at the Scientific and Technical Awards have been renamed:

o  Gordon E. Sawyer Award to “Scientific and Technical Lifetime Achievement Award”

o  John A. Bonner Award to “Scientific and Technical Service Award”

Submission deadlines and additional key dates are as follows:

Thursday, August 15, 2024: First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories

Thursday, September 12, 2024: First submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and RAISE form

Wednesday, October 2, 2024: Submission deadline for International Feature Film 

Thursday, October 10, 2024: Final submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories

Thursday, October 17, 2024: Final submission deadline for Documentary Feature Film

Friday, November 1, 2024: Submission deadline for Music (Original Score) and Music (Original Song) categories

Thursday, November 14, 2024: Final submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and RAISE form

Saturday, January 11, 2025: Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Visual Effects nominating screenings (bake-offs)

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