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When the Academy Board of Governors met in April to tighten up rules and regulations for the next Oscars set for March 10, 2024, they left on the table the debate over new requirements to broaden the public theatrical exhibition criteria for Oscars eligibility in the Best Picture category. At a meeting today, the governors approved changes in exhibition eligibility — starting with the 97th Academy Awards to be held in 2025, for films released in 2024.
Eligibility for achievements in other Oscar categories will not be impacted by this new requirement.
As before, movies must open for a one-week run in theaters in one of six U.S. qualifying cities (Los Angeles County; the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia). After that, the movie must add an 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.
This will force Netflix to book a broader theatrical footprint than they prefer with films like “Glass Onion: a Knives Out Mystery,” which was booked for strictly a one-week run. Netflix uses its theaters in New York and Los Angeles for promotional purposes, but would need to book at least 15 cities, as it did with “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which eventually played on 500 screens. “We met these criteria on every Best Picture nomination we have had over the last 5 years,” wrote one spokesperson in an email.
That also holds for late-year releases which plan to expand after January 10, 2025. In that scenario, distributors must submit release plans to the Academy for verification, and the broadened theatrical run must be completed by 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.
“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 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 artform in a theatrical setting. Based on many conversations with industry partners, we feel that this evolution benefits film artists and movie lovers alike.”
Adding to the number of theaters and cities that movies must book to be eligible for Oscars is intended to encourage theatrical attendance. This won’t disturb the studios’ wide-release plans, where budgets are already allocated to market multiple runs over time. But fulfilling these requirements places a harsher burden on less-financed distributors of independent movies that may not have significant resources to back longer runs in more cities.
To be sure, 10 markets is not as punitive as the previously discussed three to four weeks in 15 or 20 cities would have been. But a micro-indie like “To Leslie” wound up playing in six theaters and grossed less than $30,000 stateside.
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– Armessa Movie News