OSCARS
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Challengers received no Oscar nominations this year, but one snub in particular has baffled fans: the best original score category, which showed no love to the project starring Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor.
After the Academy unveiled its list of nominees Thursday (Jan. 23) — revealing that the Luca Guadagnino-directed film had been completely shut out from all the categories, including music honors — fans flooded social media to protest. Omitting Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ critically acclaimed Challengers album – which the Academy shortlisted in December — the best original score category sees only Daniel Blumberg’s The Brutalist, Volker Bertelmann’s Conclave, Clément Ducol and Camille’s Emilia Pérez, John Powell and Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked and Kris Bowers’ The Wild Robot soundtracks in the running.
The Nine Inch Nails founder and his co-composer also missed out on a best original song recognition for “Compress/Repress,” with only tracks from Emilia Pérez, The Six Triple Eight, Sing Sing and Elton John: Never Too Late making the list.
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Though diehard fans of the film weren’t exactly pleased with any of the snubs, the best original score exclusion hit them the hardest — so much so, the phrase “best original score” as well as the movie’s title were trending on X immediately after nominations went live thanks to an influx of Challengers posts. “No best original score Oscar nomination for CHALLENGERS’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is ridiculous,” one person wrote, while another fan posted, “challengers has the best original score of all time idgaf what the academy says.”
One person thought that “recency bias” must be the reason for the original score exclusion — Challengers premiered in April last year, several months before any of the category’s nominees were released — while another person proclaimed, “challengers original score snub cancel the oscars.”
Reznor and Ross’ snub comes despite the duo winning best original score at the 2025 Golden Globes earlier this month, beating out Conclave, The Brutalist, The Wild Robot, Emilia Pérez and Dune: Part Two. The duo previously won Oscars in 2010 for their soundtrack work on The Social Network and in 2020 for Soul, the latter which was shared with Jon Batiste.
See how fans are reacting to Challengers‘ best original score snub below.
challengers has the best original score of all time idgaf what the academy says— syd ✿ (@sowhatfaist) January 23, 2025
challengers original score snub cancel the oscars— zoë rose bryant (@zoerosebryant) January 23, 2025
Sorry there’s been a mistake, challengers you guys won best score. This is not a joke they read the wrong thing. Challengers. Best score.— kam (@kamrynsfilm) January 23, 2025
No CHALLENGERS in original score… I feared days like this would come— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 23, 2025
No CHALLENGERS for original score, for shame.— Sean Fennessey (@SeanFennessey) January 23, 2025
how on earth did challengers not get nominated for best original score— beatriz¹⁶ ☆ (@margotsprestige) January 23, 2025
Diane Warren received her 16th Oscar nomination for best original song on Thursday (Jan. 23) — a tally equaled by only three other songwriters in the 91-year history of the category. Sammy Cahn leads with 26 nods, followed by Johnny Mercer with 18 and Paul Francis Webster, also with 16. Warren was nominated this year this year for “The Journey,” sung by H.E.R. in The Six Triple Eight.
Moreover, this is the eighth year in a row Warren has been nominated, which enables her to tie Cahn for the longest continuous streak of nominations in this category. Cahn was nominated eight years running from 1954 to 1961.
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Clément Ducol and Camille have two of the five songs that are nominated for best original song — “El Mal” and “Mi Camino,” both from Emilia Pérez. (They cowrote “El Mal” with the film’s director, Jacques Audiard.) This marks the first time that a songwriter or team of songwriters has had two nominated songs in the same year since 2017, when Justin Hurwitz and the team of Pasek & Paul had two nominated songs from La La Land, “City of Stars” (which won the award) and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream).”
Audiard, nominated for directing and original song for Emilia Pérez, becomes only the third person to be nominated in both the directing and original song categories, and the first to do so for the same film. Leo McCarey and Spike Jonze received their nominations in separate years.
This is the fifth year in a row that one or more non-English language songs has been nominated in the original song category. The streak started with “Io Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se) and continued with “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto, “Naatu Naatu” from RRR and “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon.
Elton John received his fifth Oscar nomination for co-writing “Never Too Late” Elton John: Never Too Late. It’s the second nod for his collaborator Bernie Taupin; and the first for fellow collaborators Brandi Carlile and Andrew Watt. “Never Too Late” is the first song written by four songwriters to be nominated for best original song since “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever two years ago, which was cowritten by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson.
Best Original Song Nominees
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez; Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Like a Bird: from Sing Sing; Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez; Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late; Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
The Motion Picture Academy released a shortlist of 15 contenders for best original song on Dec. 17. One song, “Forbidden Road” from Better Man (Paramount Pictures) was removed from the shortlist two days later because of similarities to a 1973 film song, “I Got a Name” from The Great American Hero.
Among the notable songwriters who were shortlisted but not nominated: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pharrell Williams, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Miranda was shortlisted for writing “Tell Me It’s You” from Mufasa: The Lion King. Miranda has been just an Oscar away from an EGOT since 2014, when he won his first Primetime Emmy. He has been Oscar-nominated twice for writing “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana and “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto.
Shortlisted But Not Nominated for Best Original Song
“Beyond” from Moana 2 (Walt Disney Pictures) — Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear
“Compress/Repress” from Challengers (Amazon MGM) — Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Luca Guadagnino
“Harper and Will Go West” from Will & Harper (Netflix) — Sean Douglas, Kristen Wiig, Josh Greenbaum
“Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot (DreamWorks Animation) — Delacey, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi
“Out of Oklahoma” from Twisters (Universal Pictures) — Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick, Shane McAnally
“Piece by Piece” from Piece by Piece (Focus Features) — Pharrell Williams
“Sick in the Head” from Kneecap (Sony Pictures Classics) — Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí, Adrian Louis Richard Mcleod, Toddla T
“Tell Me It’s You” from Mufasa: The Lion King (Walt Disney Pictures) – Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Winter Coat” from Blitz (Apple Original Films) — Nicholas Britell, Steve McQueen, Taura Stinson
Best Original Score
Volker Bertelmann, who won two years ago for All Quiet on the Western Front, is nominated for Conclave.
Kris Bowers received his first scoring nomination for The Wild Robot. He has been nominated twice in documentary categories, for A Concerto Is a Conversation and The Last Repair Shop (both collabs with Ben Proudfoot).
Clément Ducol and Camille were nominated for Emilia Pérez. They are the third married couple to be nominated in a scoring category. Composer Fred Karlin and lyricist Tylwyth Kymry were nominated in 1971 for best original song score for The Baby Maker. Lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman were nominated for best original song score and its adaptation or adaptation score in 1984 for Yentl, on which they teamed with Michel Legrand.
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz were nominated for Wicked. The film has become the top-grossing film ever adapted from a Broadway musical.
Best Original Score Nominees
The Brutalist (A24), Daniel Blumberg
Conclave (Focus Features), Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez (Netflix), Clément Ducol and Camille
Wicked (Universal Pictures) John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
The Wild Robot (DreamWorks Animation), Kris Bowers
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, two-time winners in the category (for The Social Network and Soul, a collab with Jon Batiste), were passed over for Challengers.
This was not Hans Zimmer’s year at the Oscars. First, 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. Zimmer was in on the score shortlist for his work on Steve McQueen’s Blitz, but that score failed to land a nomination.
Andrea Datzman was also passed over for Inside Out 2. With this release, Datzman became the first woman to score a Pixar feature film.
Shortlisted But Not Nominated for Best Original Score
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
Challengers (Amazon MGM) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
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
Young Woman and the Sea (Walt Disney Pictures) — Amelia Warner
Emilia Pérez received 13 nominations for the 97th annual Academy Awards, more than any other film this year and more than any other non-English language film in Oscar history. The latter record was previously held by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Roma (2018) with 10 nods each.
Runners-up to Emilia Pérez for most nominations this year were The Brutalist and Wicked, with 10 nods each; A Complete Unknown and Conclave with eight nods each; Anora with six; and Dune: Part Two and The Substance with five nods each.
Two musicals (Wicked andEmilia Pérez) were among the 10 films nominated for best picture. This marks the first time two musicals have been nominated for best picture in the same year since 1968, when Oliver! and Funny Girl were two of the five nominated films that year. The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown was also nominated for best picture. The nominations were announced on Thursday (Jan. 23).
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Three actors from A Complete Unknown – Timothée Chalamet (who plays Dylan), Edward Norton (Pete Seeger) and Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez) – are nominated for acting honors, the first time in Oscar history that three actors from a music biopic have been nominated.
Four actors received Oscar nominations for performances in musicals – Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez, and Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for Wicked.
Three acting nominations are for non-English language performances: Gascón and Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, and Fernanda Torres in I’m Still Here. In eight of the last 10 years, at least one non-English language performance has been nominated.
For the sixth consecutive year, at least one film nominated for best picture has been directed by a woman. Coralie Fargeat’s nomination for The Substance is the 10th directing nomination for a woman.
Diane Warren was nominated for best original song for the 16th time — a tally equaled by only three other songwriters in the 91-year history of the category. Sammy Cahn leads with 26 nods, followed by Johnny Mercer with 18 and Paul Francis Webster, also with 16. Warren was nominated this year this year for “The Journey,” sung by H.E.R. in The Six Triple Eight. Moreover, this is the eighth year in a row she has been nominated, which enables Warren to tie Cahn for the longest continuous streak of nominations in this category. Cahn was nominated eight years running from 1954-61.
Here’s a complete list of nominees for the 2025 Academy Awards.
Best Picture
Anora, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers
The Brutalist, Nominees to be determined
A Complete Unknown, Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers
Conclave, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers
Dune: Part Two, Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers
Emilia Pérez, Nominees to be determined
I’m Still Here, Nominees to be determined
Nickel Boys, Nominees to be determined
The Substance, Nominees to be determined
Wicked, Marc Platt, Producer
Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Directing
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet
A Complete Unknown, James Mangold
Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
A Complete Unknown, Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Conclave, Screenplay by Peter Straughan
Emilia Pérez, Screenplay by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
Nickel Boys, Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing, Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anora, Written by Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
A Real Pain, Written by Jesse Eisenberg
September 5, Written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David
The Substance, Written by Coralie Fargeat
Music (Original Score)
The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg
Conclave, Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol and Camille
Wicked, John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers
Music (Original Song)
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez; Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing; Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada:
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez; Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late; Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Animated Feature Film
Flow, Nominees to be determined
Inside Out 2, Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen
Memoir of a Snail, Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Nominees to be determined
The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann
Animated Short Film
Beautiful Men, Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande
In the Shadow of the Cypress, Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi
Magic Candies, Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio
Wander to Wonder, Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper
Yuck!, Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet
Cinematography
The Brutalist, Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two, Greig Fraser
Emilia Pérez, Paul Guilhaume
Maria, Ed Lachman
Nosferatu, Jarin Blaschke
Costume Design
A Complete Unknown, Arianne Phillips
Conclave, Lisy Christl
Gladiator II, Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
Nosferatu, Linda Muir
Wicked, Paul Tazewell
Documentary Feature Film
Black Box Diaries, Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin
No Other Land, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham
Porcelain War, Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, Aniela Sidorska and Paula DuPre’ Pesmen
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius and Rémi Grellety
Sugarcane, Nominees to be determined
Documentary Short Film
Death by Numbers, Kim A. Snyder and Janique L. Robillard
I Am Ready, Warden, Smriti Mundhra and Maya Gnyp
Incident, Bill Morrison and Jamie Kalven
Instruments of a Beating Heart, Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari
The Only Girl in the Orchestra, Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington
Film Editing
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, David Jancso
Conclave, Nick Emerson
Emilia Pérez, Juliette Welfling
Wicked, Myron Kerstein
International Feature Film
Brazil, I’m Still Here
Denmark, The Girl with the Needle
France, Emilia Pérez
Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Latvia, Flow
Makeup and Hairstyling
A Different Man, Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado
Emilia Pérez, Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
Nosferatu, David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton
The Substance, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli
Wicked, Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth
Production Design
The Brutalist, Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia
Conclave, Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
Dune: Part Two, Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Nosferatu, Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
Wicked, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Live Action Short Film
A Lien, Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
Anuja, Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai
I’m Not a Robot, Victoria Warmerdam and Trent
The Last Ranger, Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek
Sound
A Complete Unknown, Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco
Dune: Part Two, Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill
Emilia Pérez, Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta
Wicked, Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis
The Wild Robot, Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts
Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus, Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan
Better Man, Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs
Dune: Part Two, Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke
Wicked, Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould
If you were expecting to see live performances of the five best original song nominees on the 97th annual Academy Awards on March 2, be prepared for something different this year.
Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and Janet Yang, Academy president, sent a letter to Academy members on Wednesday (Jan. 22) in which they said, “This year the Best Original Song category presentation will move away from live performances and will be focused on the songwriters. We will celebrate their artistry through personal reflections from the teams who bring these songs to life. All of this, and more, will uncover the stories and inspiration behind this year’s nominees.”
This is reminiscent of something the Grammy Awards did in 1981, when they had the songwriters of the song of the year nominees perform and discuss the nominated songs. As David Wild wrote in the 2007 book And the Grammy Goes To… The Official Story of Music’s Most Coveted Award, “One innovative moment came at the end of the show. Many years before shows like MTV’s Unplugged or VH1’s Storytellers, this Grammy show presented a group of songwriters nominated for song of the year – including Amanda McBroom (‘The Rose’), Christopher Cross (‘Sailing’), Fred Ebb and John Kander (‘New York, New York’), Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore (‘Fame’) and Lionel Richie (‘Lady’) – to both explain and perform stripped-down versions of the songs. It was a vivid reminder of the power of the songwriter.”
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In their letter to academy members, Kramer and Yang also wrote “We are thrilled to bring back our ‘Fab 5’ moments, where individual film artists recognize nominees.” This refers to a technique first used on the 2009 Oscar telecast and revived last year, in which five previous winners in each of the four acting categories take turns lauding this year’s nominees.
(In a press conference days before the 2024 Oscars telecast, Raj Kapoor, executive producer and showrunner of the 2024 and 2025 Oscars, said he loved those introductions on the 2009 show and revived the idea. “It was this lovely storytelling,” he said. “And, again, it came down to connection. It was past winners speaking to present nominees, and just that lovely connection and that human interaction.”)
Kramer and Yang also said that the show will pay tribute to Los Angeles, which has experienced devastating wildfires in recent weeks. “We will reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry.”
Here’s the letter from Kramer and Yang in full:
Dear Academy members,
Our deepest thanks to all of you for your compassion and support over the last few weeks. Our thoughts remain with those who were impacted by the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires. If you would like to join the Academy in supporting the ongoing relief efforts, please click here for a list of aid resources.
After continued consultation with ABC, our board, and other key stakeholders in the Los Angeles and film communities, planning continues for the 97th Oscars ceremony on Sunday, March 2. This year’s Oscars will celebrate the work that unites us as a global film community and acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.
As a reminder, our 97th Oscars Nominations will be announced tomorrow, January 23, at 5:30am PT via global live stream on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the Academy’s digital platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook), ABC’s Good Morning America, and ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. American Sign Language (ASL) services will be available on YouTube.
As a precursor to tomorrow’s announcement, we wanted to share a little bit about this year’s show. Hosted by the incredible Conan O’Brien, our 97th Oscars will be a celebration of connection and collaboration – honoring the unifying spirit and creative synergy of moviemaking. We will highlight the transformative power of the teamwork that brings cinematic visions to life.
As part of this, we are thrilled to bring back our “Fab 5” moments, where individual film artists recognize nominees. Also, this year the Best Original Song category presentation will move away from live performances and will be focused on the songwriters. We will celebrate their artistry through personal reflections from the teams who bring these songs to life. All of this, and more, will uncover the stories and inspiration behind this year’s nominees.
And we will honor Los Angeles as the city of dreams, showcasing its beauty and resilience, as well as its role as a beacon for filmmakers and creative visionaries for over a century. We will reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry.
There is so much more in store, including powerful musical moments that connect film’s rich history to its bold and inspiring future. We hope you will tune in tomorrow morning to watch the Nominations Announcement, and we greatly appreciate your ongoing commitment to the Academy and our film community. We are stronger together.
Bill Kramer and Janet Yang
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.
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