The Academy of Motion Pictures has now made it clear. A one-week qualifying run in Southern California is no longer acceptable. For the first time in decades, the Academy is requiring a movie to play in 10 of the top 50 markets in the United States for at least a week. In theory, this means more Oscar watchers will get to see the contenders on the big screen before the nominations are announced. Maybe.
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The new rule is meant to take aim streamers who only screen their movies in New York and Los Angeles (and perhaps London) and small distributors who do a LA area qualifying run before expanding after nominations.
To qualify for the Best Picture category, a film must now adhere to the following rules:
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 a statement, Academy President Janet Jang and Academy Ceo Bill Kramer noted, “As we do every year, we have been reviewing and assessing our theatrical eligibility requirements for the Oscars. 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.”
These new rules would have had a much bigger impact before the pandemic. Over the past year, Amazon Studios and Apple TV+ have committed to theatrical releases before their movies hit their respective streaming services. Already, Amazon had success with Ben Affleck’s “Air” this past spring (a genuine awards player) and is expected to use the same release model for Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn.” Apple is teaming up with Paramount to release Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Sony Pictures for Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon.” Netflix has released some of its awards contenders in more than 10 markets, but that’s still a rarity. How the streamer moves forward will tell awards watchers which films they really think have a shot at Oscar gold.
This rule will also affect international releases that would hold their limited releases until after the Oscar nominations were announced. It should be noted that there is no non-English Language Best Picture nominee that wouldn’t have qualified under these rules this century.
The 2024 Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23, 2024. The 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10, 2024.