New Academy rules require actual theatrical run for Best Picture eligibility

Earlier today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made it official: Best Picture nominees must receive an actual theatrical run. To qualify for the 2023 race, contenders must fulfill an “expanded theatrical run” in “10 of the top 50 U.S. markets.” By expanding the rules, the Academy is essentially forcing every studio and streamer to play the same game and put movies in theaters around the country rather than a couple of screens in New York City and Los Angeles.

“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 a joint statement. “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 guidelines are:

• 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 Jan. 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 Jan. 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.

Streamers have long done the bare minimum for Oscar consideration. When Netflix first entered the Academy Awards conversation in 2018 with Roma, the streamer dropped Alfonso Cuaron’s in less than 150 theaters to qualify. By the time CODA won Best Picture in 2022, it had no theatrical run to speak of, thanks to the pandemic when the Academy lifted rules on theatrical releases.

As usual, Steven Spielberg was ahead on this one. When Netflix began squeezing its way into the race, Spielberg stepped in, called Netflix’s output “TV movies,” and attempted to have streaming movies banned from the Oscars. “Once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie,” Spielberg said in 2018. “You certainly, if it’s a good show, deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar. I don’t believe films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theaters for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”

As Variety points out, the streamers likely knew this was coming. Amazon released Air on 3,500 screens. Not bad for a movie without a superhero but rather a marketing whiz that transformed a billion-dollar company into a multi-billion-dollar company. Likewise, Apple reportedly invested $1 billion to make theatrical releases happen. Later this year, they’ll pull a Netflix and release Martin Scorsese’s latest streaming picture, Killers Of The Flower Moon, in theatres.

Of course, the upside to this is there’s no downside. Unless there is a generational health emergency, movies should play in movie theaters if they want to be called the “Best Picture” of the year—at least according to the organization that gives out awards.