Academy Reveals Key Dates for 97th Oscars and Nominations, Moves Ceremony to Early March

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and ABC announced today that the 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025.

The date is one week earlier than this year’s Academy Awards, which were held on March 10 and where Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. among its seven awards and Poor Things earned four, including Best Actress for Emma Stone.

The earlier date also moves away from the SXSW Film Festival, which had overlapped Oscars week for the last two years. The ceremony will also once again begin one hour earlier than previous years, at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, live from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, reaching audiences in over 200 territories. Oscar nominations will be announced on Friday, January 17 instead of the usual Tuesday. Rumor is this is to avoid the 2025 Presidential inauguration set for Tuesday, January 21.

Earlier this year the Academy voted to create a new category, Best Casting, its first new category in over 20 years. That new category will go through process and oversight and be instituted for the 98th Oscars. The Board of Governors also this year voted to make the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch two distinct branches, the Animation Branch and the Short Films Branch.

The Animation Branch represents approximately 700 Academy members working within every aspect of the animation industry. The branch will have two governor representatives on the Board of Governors and oversee the Animated Feature Film and Animated Short Film awards.

The Short Films Branch comprises more than 200 Academy members whose artistic work encompasses both narrative and nonfiction short filmmaking. The branch will have one governor representative on the Board of Governors to be elected for a term starting in the 2024-2025 fiscal year and oversee the Live Action Short Film award.

A new rule going into effect for this coming awards season is the increased new requirements to broaden the public theatrical exhibition criteria for Oscars eligibility in the Best Picture category starting with the 97th Academy Awards, for films released in 2024.

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.

Here is the timeline for the 97th Academy Awards. All dates are subject to change.

General entry, Best Picture, RAISE submission deadline: Thursday, November 14, 2024

Governors Awards: Sunday, November 17, 2024

Preliminary voting begins: Monday, December 9, 2024, at 9 a.m. PT

Preliminary voting ends: Friday, December 13, 2024, at 5 p.m. PT

Oscar Shortlists Announcement: Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Eligibility period ends: Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Nominations voting begins: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at 9 a.m. PT

Nominations voting ends: Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 5 p.m. PT

Oscar Nominations Announcement: Friday, January 17, 2025

Oscar Nominees Luncheon: Monday, February 10, 2025

Final voting begins: Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at 9 a.m. PT

Final voting ends: Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at 5 p.m. PT

Scientific and Technical Awards: Tuesday, February 18, 2025

97th Oscars: Sunday, March 2, 2025