201 FEATURE FILMS IN CONTENTION FOR BEST PICTURE CATEGORY
LOS ANGELES, CA – Three hundred seventeen feature films are eligible for the 98th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. There are 201 feature films eligible for consideration in the Best Picture category, which has additional eligibility requirements beyond those for general entry.
To be eligible for consideration in the general entry categories, feature films must 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; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; and Atlanta, Georgia, between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, and complete a minimum qualifying run of seven consecutive days in the same venue. Feature films must have a running time of more than 40 minutes.
The “Reminder List of Productions Eligible for the 98th Academy Awards” in the general entry categories is available at https://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility. The Reminder List also includes the performers eligible for consideration in the Acting categories.
To be eligible for consideration in the Best Picture category for the 98th Academy Awards, films must be eligible for general entry and have submitted a confidential Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE ) form. They must have met two of the four standards required in addition to an expanded theatrical eligibility requirement, which includes a 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 2025. Eligibility in the Best Picture category is subject to change if late-in-the-year films do not complete the planned expanded theatrical run by January 22, 2026. A film’s distributor or producer had the option to opt out of Best Picture consideration. A list of productions eligible in the Best Picture category is available at https://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility.
Oscars shortlists were previously announced in 12 categories: Animated Short Film, Casting, Cinematography, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Live Action Short Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Sound and Visual Effects.
Nominations voting begins on Monday, January 12, 2026, and concludes on Friday, January 16, 2026.
Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Twenty-four categories will be awarded at the 98th Oscars. Each category has five nominees, except for Best Picture, which has 10. Best Picture nominations are determined by eligible members from all 19 Academy branches. All rounds of Oscars voting are conducted by secret online ballot, tabulated by the independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Visit https://www.oscars.org/oscars/voting for more information.
The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
