It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic shook up the theatrical model in a big way back in 2020 when theaters across the globe were forced to shut their doors. Amidst the situation, studios’ focus on streaming content significantly increased, and with that, the potential for at-home releases to become Best Picture winners was created... well no more. The Oscars just changed its Best Picture-qualifying rules, and it’s going to affect streaming movies.
After hints that the Academy was looking to change its rules back in March, the Academy’s Board of Governors have just approved new requirements for movies to be considered Best Picture-worthy. Per Variety, if a movie wants to have the opportunity to be named the highest award of Hollywood, it must not only have a one-week run in theaters in one of six U.S. markets, it also will have to have an expanded theatrical run of at least seven days as well, “in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets, no later than 45 days after the initial release in 2024.”
These new rules will not affect the 2023 movie release schedule and 2024 Academy Awards, but starting next year, the new changes could weed out what can be chosen for Best Picture. Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said the following about the new rules:
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.
In the past few years, streaming services have been experimenting with putting their movies in theaters, most notably with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery being Netflix's widest released film yet. Rian Johnson’s whodunnit ran on big screens for a week in order to qualify and could have made “lots” of money if it had stayed there for longer. Per the new rules, Glass Onion would have had to stay put for an additional week.
In recent years, more streaming movies than ever have qualified for Best Picture and been huge parts of the Oscars conversation. The first movie distributed by a streaming service to be nominated for the award was 2018’s Roma, which caused a stir among theater chains regarding its theatrical-window policies. The first streaming movie to win in the top Academy category was Apple’s CODA in 2022. All this being said, if a movie does not adhere to these rules, it could still be included in other categories aside from Best Picture.
Along with the Academy’s new rule for theatrical runs, back in 2020, diversity and inclusion standards for Best Picture were passed, which is set to go into effect during the coming 2024 Oscars. We’ll keep you updated here on CinemaBlend regarding how these changes affect Hollywood’s biggest night going forward.
