366 movies are eligible for the Best Picture Oscar this year
No, we didn't realize that many movies came out in the last year, either
The Academy has revealed the full list of movies eligible for the Best Picture award at this year's Oscars – and there are 366 of them, up from last year's 344. With a maximum of ten movies in the nomination category, the Academy has a lot of narrowing down to do (a difficult task when the list includes both A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon and Sonic The Hedgehog).
In order to qualify, movies had to be released before February 28 for a seven-day run in a commercial movie theater in either Los Angeles, New York City, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, or Atlanta. This year, the rules were slightly different due to the pandemic – drive-in theaters were included as qualifying venues. Movies could also qualify if they were intended for theatrical release but made available first via streaming, VOD service, or other broadcasting methods because of lockdowns.
As for who will make the cut, Netflix could potentially break an 85-year-old record with the most Best Picture nominations from one studio – the streamer's recent output includes David Fincher's Mank, Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, all of which critics believe stand a good shot of being nominated.
Other potential nominees include Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, One Night in Miami, Promising Young Woman, Nomadland, and Pixar's Soul. You can find the full list on the Academy's website here.
Nominations will be announced on March 15, with voting taking place between March 5 and 10. The awards ceremony will take place on April 25, with the Academy confirming back in December that the event would be held live and not over Zoom.
Make sure you've caught up on all the best movies of 2020 before awards season rolls around.
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I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.