Oscars: 366 feature films eligible for 93rd Academy Awards

366 feature films are eligible for the 2020 Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today, an increase from the 344 that qualified last year and the most since 1970.

To be eligible for consideration under rules provisions implemented for the 93rd Academy Awards year only, feature films may open in a commercial motion picture theater in at least one of six U.S. metropolitan areas: Los Angeles County; the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia, by February 28, 2021, and complete a minimum qualifying run of seven consecutive days in the same venue.  Drive-in theaters open nightly are included as qualifying commercial venues in the above cities.  Films intended for theatrical release but initially made available through commercial streaming, VOD service or other broadcast may qualify if the film is made available on the secure Academy Screening Room member site within 60 days of the streaming/VOD release or broadcast.  Feature films must have a running time of more than 40 minutes.

The “Reminder List of Productions Eligible for the 93rd Academy Awards” is available at http://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility.  The Reminder List also includes the performers eligible for consideration in the Acting categories.

In 1929, the first year of the Academy Awards, which celebrated films from 1927 and 1928 and Wings was the first Best Picture winner ever, there were a whopping 562 titles eligible for Oscar gold. The Oscar reminder lists have evolved over the years, at some points not including all actual eligible films. It wasn’t until 1987 (the year of The Last Emperor) that the Academy amended its rules so that only eligible films would be allowed on the Reminder List. This year is the 20th largest total of eligible films in Oscar history.

Nominations voting begins on Friday, March 5, 2021, and concludes on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.

Nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, March 15, 2021.

The 93rd Oscars will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2021, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.