265 Films Are Eligible for the Best Picture Oscar This Year

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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The 2024 Academy Awards are revealing just how many films are eligible for consideration in the Best Picture category this year.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced January 8 that 265 feature films are in contention for the top Oscar. For the entire awards ceremony, 321 feature films are eligible for the total awards at the 96th annual Academy Awards. The discrepancy between the total films and those eligible for Best Picture is due to additional eligibility requirements beyond those for general entry. (See the list of eligible titles via the Academy’s website here.)

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Film distributors and producers also had the option to opt out of Best Picture consideration. Ten films will be officially nominated for Best Picture. Contenders in the Best Picture category were required to submit a confidential Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards (RAISE) entry form.

To be eligible for consideration in the general entry categories, feature films had to have opened in a commercial motion picture theater in at least one of six U.S. metropolitan areas: Los Angeles County; the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia, between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023. Theatrical releases must have had a minimum qualifying run of seven consecutive days in the same venue.

All eligible feature films must have a running time of more than 40 minutes; any shorter would be considered a short film.

The shortlists for 10 Oscar categories including International Feature Film, Documentary, Sound, Original Score, Original Song, Makeup and Hairstyling, Visual Effects, Live-Action Short Film, Documentary Short Subject, and Animated Short Film were unveiled December 21, a month before the complete Oscar nominations will be announced January 23.

Anticipated inclusions for Oscar frontrunners like “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Barbie,” “Poor Things,” and “Maestro” made the cut in a variety of categories. “Barbie” led with five shortlist nominations, “Killers of the Flower Moon” had four, and “The Color Purple,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Poor Things” each landing three nods.

“Oppenheimer” has proven to be the Best Picture contender to beat thus far, with Christopher Nolan’s epic winning Best Picture Drama at the 2024 Golden Globes, plus Nolan for Best Director. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” won the Best Picture, Comedy award.

Nomination voting begins Thursday, January 11 and will conclude Tuesday, January 16. The 2024 Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, January 23, with the ceremony taking place at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood Sunday, March 10.

The 2024 Academy Awards will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

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