OSCARS
After being delayed twice by the wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles, the 2025 Oscar nominations in all 23 categories will be announced bright and early on Thursday, Jan. 23. How early is early? The announcement is set for 5:30 a.m. PT / 8:30 a.m. ET.
The nominations will be livestreamed from the Motion Picture Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Academy’s website digital platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook). You can also catch the nominations on national broadcast news programs, including ABC’s Good Morning America, and streaming on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
Music is expected to play a big role in this year’s nominations. Two musicals (Wicked and Emilia Pérez) and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown are top contenders for best picture nominations.
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Three actors from A Complete Unknown – Timothée Chalamet (who plays Dylan), Edward Norton (Pete Seeger) and Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez) – have a good shot at acting nods.
Six actors are strong contenders for Oscar nominations for performances in musicals – Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez for Emilia Pérez; and Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey for Wicked. In addition, four actors could be nominated for their performances in music biopics – the three aforementioned actors from A Complete Unknown and Angelina Jolie for Maria, a biopic about Maria Callas.
The 97th Oscars, with first-time host Conan O’Brien, will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. In addition, the show will stream live on Hulu for the first time. The official live red carpet show airs at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
The show will be held at its usual home, Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show’s executive producers are Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan.
Here’s what to expect on Thursday. The Academy cautions that these categories are not listed in order of presentation and are subject to change.
5:30 a.m. PT
Actor in a Supporting Role
Actress in a Supporting Role
Animated Short Film
Costume Design
Live Action Short Film
Makeup and Hairstyling
Music (Original Score)
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Writing (Original Screenplay)
5:41 a.m. PT
Actor in a Leading Role
Actress in a Leading Role
Animated Feature Film
Cinematography
Directing
Documentary Feature Film
Documentary Short Film
Film Editing
International Feature Film
Music (Original Song)
Best Picture
Production Design
Sound
Visual Effects
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has announced updates to its 2025 Oscars key dates and schedule of events due to the impact of the Los Angeles-area fires. The Oscar telecast is still set for March 2, but the nominations announcement is being delayed for the second time to Jan. 23 — and will now be held virtually. The Oscars nominees luncheon, always an A-list event, will not be held this year.
“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.
“Due to the still-active fires in the Los Angeles area, we feel it is necessary to extend our voting period and move the date of our nominations announcement to allow additional time for our members.
“Additionally, as we want to be sensitive to the infrastructure and lodging needs of the region in these next few weeks, it is imperative that we make some changes to our schedule of events, which we believe will have the support of our industry.
“Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use this opportunity to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry. We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts.
“We will get through this together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community.”
Updates are outlined as follows:
The nominations voting period is extended through Friday, Jan. 17, at 5 p.m. PT. The voting window was originally set to close on Sunday, Jan. 12. That was pushed back to Tuesday, Jan. 14, before being pushed back again today.
The nominations announcement is rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 a.m. PT. The live announcement will be a virtual event without in-person media coverage. The nominations were originally set to be announced on Friday, Jan. 17, which was pushed back to Sunday, Jan. 19, before being pushed back again today.
The Oscars nominees luncheon, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10, will not be held this year.
The Scientific and Technical Awards, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18, will be rescheduled to a later date yet to be determined.
The Academy stresses that all dates are subject to change.
The 97th Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien for the first time, will still be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC, streamed live on Hulu and air live in more than 200 territories worldwide.
The wildfires that have been devouring multiple neighborhoods in the greater Los Angeles area for the last five days have caused so much misery and heartbreak for so many that it may seem trifling to point out the impact they have had on awards season. But it’s not. Awards shows aren’t just about privileged celebrities, but also about the thousands of everyday people who make their livings in support roles — caterers, bartenders, limo drivers, hairstylists, make-up artists and many more.
The latest show to be affected by the fires is the Producers Guild of America Awards. The nominations were set to be announced on Sunday (Jan. 12) at noon PT, but have been pushed to next week. “Out of care and concern for those being affected by the fires, we will be holding the announcement of the PGA award nominees until next week,” the guild said in a statement on Sunday.
The big question is whether the Grammys will go forward on Feb. 2, which is just three weeks away. Billboard has reached out to the Recording Academy; an answer is expected this week.
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If the show is postponed, this will be the third time in the past five years that Music’s Biggest Night has been pushed back due to outside events. The 2021 and 2022 shows were both postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 show was bumped from Jan. 31 to March 14. The 2022 ceremony was pushed all the way from Jan. 31 to April 3.
The Oscars are set for March 2, which gives the Motion Picture Academy and the show’s producers more breathing room. The fires have already impacted the Oscars voting schedule. Academy CEO Bill Kramer wrote a letter to all Academy members on Wednesday (Jan. 8), one day after the first fires exploded.
“Given the fire situation, we want to share some updates regarding an extension to the Oscars nominations voting window… Nominations voting for the 97th Oscars opened this morning at 9 a.m. PT. We will be extending the voting window by two days to give members more time to cast their ballots. Voting will now close on Tuesday, January 14 at 5 p.m. PT. As such, our Oscars Nominations Announcement will move from Friday, January 17 to Sunday, January 19.”
Other shows have also been impacted. The Critics Choice Awards, which were set to air live on E! tonight, were postponed to Jan. 26. (It is unknown if they will be able to proceed on that date.) The show was to be held at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., which is located just a few miles from Pacific Palisades, where the fires originated.
In retrospect, the Golden Globes, held one week ago at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, were extremely lucky. The show concluded just 38 hours before L.A.’s wind and fire nightmare began.
Due to the wind-whipped fires that have spread across the Los Angeles area in the last 24 hours, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has extended the Oscar nominations voting window by two days and also delayed the announcement of the 97th annual Oscar nominations by two days. Academy CEO Bill Kramer wrote […]
Chappell Roan is taking the stage to perform at the 33rd Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, the organization announced on Tuesday (Jan. 7). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The event, which takes place on March 2 is co-hosted by Elton John, David Furnish, Jean Smart, Sheryl […]
In December, Robbie Williams‘ film biopic Better Man (Paramount Pictures) was released in cinemas globally, telling the story of the British pop icon, albeit with Williams replaced by a CGI monkey.
The film covers Williams’ rise to fame as a teenager in pop band Take That, his decision to go solo in 1995, his various controversies and struggles with addiction, his recovery and time in the limelight. The film was directed and co-written by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey and divided critics and fans for its use of the CGI character instead of a traditional actor.
Better Man includes a number of Williams’ greatest hits including “Angels,” “Rock DJ,” and “She’s The One.” A new composition, “Forbidden Road,” is also featured in the movie, and last year was nominated for the Golden Globes as well as being shortlisted for best original song at the 2025 Oscars (March 2).
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That song, however, was eventually removed from the shortlist last month on the grounds that it incorporated material from an existing song that was not written for the film in which it appears. Williams co-wrote the song with Freddy Wexler and Sacha Skarbek, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences deemed that it shared similarities to “I Got a Name,” a 1973 ballad written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox for the Jeff Bridges film The Last American Hero. (The late Jim Croce had a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song.) In a statement to its members about the removal of the track, The Academy said: “This is a decision that both honors our rules and protects the special nature of the Original Song and Score categories.”
The song remained a nominee for best original song at Sunday night’s (Jan. 5) 82nd Golden Globes, where Williams walked the red carpet. Speaking to Deadline, he responded to the disqualification of the song from the Oscars shortlist. Watch the full interview below.
“Listen, the rules is the rules and you have to go by them. It would have been nice, but also as an introvert, it’s another party I don’t have to go to,” he said. “I went through it, I’m on the other side. It’s all good.”
Williams’ song lost the award at the Golden Globes to “El Mal,” co-written by Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard for the film Emilia Pérez, which also scooped best motion picture, musical or comedy.
Later this year, Williams will embark on a massive European tour and recently told NME that he was working on a new album which featured contributions from Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.
London Philharmonic Orchestra has teamed up with Foresee Films and Women in Film Los Angeles to spotlight worldwide gender discrimination in a powerful way through music. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news LPO interpreted the original song that soundtracks the Oscar-contending best live-action short black and white […]
Robbie Williams’ song “Forbidden Road” was removed from the 2025 Oscar shortlist for best original song on the grounds that song incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for the film in which it appears, Better Man (Paramount Pictures). Williams co-wrote the song with Freddy Wexler and Sacha Skarbek.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will not replace the song on the shortlist. Members of the music branch will choose the five nominees from a shortlist of 14 songs, rather than the customary 15.
The song is nominated for a Golden Globe for best original song. It is still listed on the Globes site as a nominee, though it has already been removed from the list of shortlisted songs that appears on the Oscars site.
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Here’s the text of a letter sent to Academy’s music branch members from the branch’s executive committee, explaining the decision:
“Dear Music Branch members,
The shortlisted Original Song achievement, “Forbidden Road,” from the film BETTER MAN, incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for this film.
The Music Branch Executive Committee has met and reviewed materials. It was determined the achievement does not meet the 97th Awards Rules criteria for eligibility in the Original Song category: An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture. [Rule Eighteen, Section 1-B].
Therefore, the song has been deemed ineligible for award consideration for the 97th Oscars and will be removed from the Academy’s shortlist in the Original Song category.
This is a decision that both honors our rules and protects the special nature of the Original Song and Score categories.
Sincerely,
The Music Branch Executive Committee”
The Oscars run a very tight ship. Eleven years ago, a nominated songwriter, Bruce Broughton, was overzealous in promoting his song, running afoul of Academy regulations. The Academy rescinded the nomination. The explanation of what happened still appears on the Oscar site all these years later: “After the nominations were announced on January 16, 2014, it was determined that Mr. Broughton had taken actions in promoting the song that were inconsistent with the Academy’s campaign regulations. The Board of Governors voted to rescind the nomination on January 29, and only four songs were included on the final ballot.”
Better Man will have a limited release opening on Christmas Day. It will go wide on Jan. 10. Williams is portrayed by a computer-generated monkey in this film about his life which was co-written, produced and directed by Michael Gracey.
Eno, a documentary about legendary British musician Brian Eno, is shortlisted for an Oscar for best documentary feature. Gary Hustwit directed the film.
Eno, 76, has won seven Grammys for producing records by U2 and Coldplay. In 1993, he and his partner Daniel Lanois won a Grammy for producer of the year (non-classical) in a tie with Babyface & L.A. Reid. Eno was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of Roxy Music.
The documentary feature shortlist also includes Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, a film about the political activities of jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach during the Cold War. Johan Grimonprez directed the film.
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Will & Harper, the Netflix film about a cross-country road trip starring Will Ferrell and Harper Steele is also on the shortlist. The film, directed by Josh Greenbaum, features Kristen Wiig’s “Harper and Will Go West,” which is shortlisted for best original song.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released shortlists in 10 categories, including best original song, best original score and best documentary feature on Tuesday (Dec. 17).
A total of 169 features vied to make the shortlist for documentary feature film. Just 15 made it. Among the music-focused films that failed to make the shortlist: Elton John: Never Too Late; The Greatest Night in Pop, about the recording session that produced “We Are the World”; I Am: Celine Dion; Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All; Luther: Never Too Much (about Luther Vandross); Mad About the Boy – The Noel Coward Story; Music by John Williams; Piece by Piece, about and featuring music by Pharrell Williams; and The World According to Allee Willis.
Also passed over: Following Harry, about Harry Belafonte’s social justice work; Studio One Forever (about the L.A. nightclub that is described as “America’s first gay disco”) and Flipside (about a comical attempt to save a New Jersey record store).
Here’s a complete list of this year’s 15 shortlisted films for documentary (feature).
Shortlisted Films
The Bibi FilesBlack Box DiariesDahomeyDaughtersEnoFridaHollywoodgateNo Other LandPorcelain WarQueendomThe Remarkable Life of IbelinSoundtrack to a Coup d’EtatSugarcaneUnionWill & Harper
Nominations-round voting runs from Jan. 8-12. Nominations will be announced Jan. 17. Final-round voting runs from Feb. 11-18. The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. The show will also stream live on Hulu for the first time.
Two composing teams are on the Oscar shortlist for best original score, along with 18 individual composers.
Clément Ducol and Camille are shortlisted for their work on Emilia Pérez (Netflix); Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are shortlisted for Challengers. A second Reznor/Ross score, Queer, didn’t make the cut. The Nine Inch Nails members have won two Oscars in this category, for The Social Network and Soul, the latter a collaboration with Jon Batiste.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released shortlists in 10 categories, including best original score, best original song, and best documentary feature on Tuesday (Dec. 17). The number of shortlisted scores jumped from 15 to 20 this year, on the grounds that there are so many entries in this category. This year, 145 scores were eligible in the category, compared to 89 songs in the best original song category. (The number of shortlisted songs remained at 15.)
Hans Zimmer in on the score shortlist for his work on Steve McQueen’s Blitz. Zimmer might have had two scores on the shortlist, but his score for Dune: Part Two was ruled ineligible due to exceeding the Academy’s limit on pre-existing music. Academy rules state: “In cases such as sequels and franchises from any media, the score must not use more than 20% of pre-existing themes and music borrowed from previous scores in the franchise.” Zimmer’s score for Dune: Part Two incorporates substantial elements from his Oscar-winning score for 2021’s Dune.
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Dune: Part Two was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for best original score. The other scores that are nominated for those two awards were all shortlisted for Oscars – Daniel Blumberg’s The Brutalist, Reznor & Ross’ Challengers, Volker Bertelmann’s Conclave, Ducol & Camille’s Emilia Pérez and Kris Bowers’ The Wild Robot.
John Powell’s score for Wicked made the shortlist. The film is closing in on Mamma Mia! as the top-grossing film ever adapted from a Broadway musical.
Andrea Datzman is shortlisted for Inside Out 2. With this release, Datzman became the first woman to score a Pixar feature film.
Here’s a complete list of this year’s 20 shortlisted scores for best original score:
Shortlisted
Alien: Romulus (20th Century Studios) – Benjamin Wallfisch
Babygirl (A24) – Critobal Tapia de Veer
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros. Pictures) – Danny Elfman
Blink Twice (Amazon MGM Studios) – Chanda Dancy
Blitz (Apple Original Films) — Hans Zimmer
The Brutalist (A24) — Daniel Blumberg
Challengers (Amazon MGM) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Conclave (Focus Features) — Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez (Netflix) — Clément Ducol, Camille
The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM) — Tamar-kali
Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures) — Harry Gregson-Williams
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (New Line Cinema) – John Debney
Inside Out 2 (Pixar) — Andrea Datzman
Nosferatu (Focus Features) – Robin Carolan
The Room Next Door (Sony Pictures Classics) — Alberto Iglesias
Sing Sing (A24) — Bryce Dessner
The Six Triple Eight (Netflix) – Aaron Zigman
Wicked (Universal Pictures) – John Powell
The Wild Robot (DreamWorks Animation) — Kris Bowers
Young Woman and the Sea (Walt Disney Pictures) — Amelia Warner
And here are some of the highly-touted scores that were passed over for the shortlist.
Not Shortlisted
Deadpool & Wolverine (Marvel Studios) — Rob Simonsen
Drive-Away Dolls (Focus Features) — Carter Burwell
Flow (Janus Films/Sideshow) — Gints Zilbalodis, Rihards Zalupe
Hard Truths (Bleecker Street) — Gary Yershon
Here (Sony Pictures) — Alan Silvestri
IF (Paramount Pictures) — Michael Giacchino
I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics) — Warren Ellis
Memoir of a Snail (IFC Films) — Elena Kats-Chernin
Mufasa: The Lion King (Walt Disney Pictures) — Nicholas Britell, Dave Metzger, Pharrell Williams
Moana 2 (Walt Disney Pictures) — Mark Mancina, Opetaia Foaʻi
The Piano Lesson (Netflix) — Alexandre Desplat
Queer (A24) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Saturday Night (Sony Pictures) — Jon Batiste
September 5 (Paramount Pictures) — Lorenz Dangel
The Substance (Mubi) — Raffertie
Transformers One (Paramount Pictures) — Brian Tyler
We Live in Time (A24) — Bryce Dessner
Nominations-round voting runs from Jan. 8-12. Nominations will be announced Jan. 17. Final-round voting runs from Feb. 11-18. The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. The show will also stream live on Hulu for the first time.