The 96th edition of the Academy Awards® will take place on March 10, 2024. The venue? The Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood Shopping Center on Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles.

Access to the event is quite limited – even Oscar® nominee Da’Vine Joy Randolph is pleading for additional tickets! Fortunately, we and other fans of her performance in The Holdovers can watch the Academy Awards® live on ABC at 4 pm PST / 7 pm EST.

Here’s everything else you need to know as you cheer for all the amazing films and filmmakers at the Academy Awards® in 2024.

The Host

“Why do all the beautiful dummies come to me for advice?” asked Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), as you can see at the end of this advertisement for the awards show. She felt understandably exasperated because Jimmy Kimmel said he would rather snack on a churro than serve as the host.

Fortunately, the Emmy®-winning comedian changed his mind. Kimmel is best known as the producer and host of the talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! and has previously hosted the Oscars® in 2017, 2018, and 2023.

As Kimmel admitted, “I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times.”

Therefore, according to released footage, Kimmel leapt into the Weird Wagon so that Weird Barbie could guide him to Hollywood. He psyched himself up with timely help from Gloria (America Ferrera). Finally, they joined forces to correct a woefully ill-informed Ken (Ryan Gosling) before the festivities.

Award Nominees

Because of the intense competition, simply being nominated for an Oscar® is an honor. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 321 films were eligible to compete in 2024.

The nominees in 23 award categories were announced on January 23, 2024. Ultimately, just 15 films received two or more nominations.

All films that earned five or more nominations are also contenders for Best Picture. The most nominated film was Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which received 13 nominations. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things came in second place with 11 nominations.

These leaders were followed by Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon (10 nominations), Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (8 nominations), and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro (7 nominations).

Four contenders for Best Picture tied with five nominations apiece. They are Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, and Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.

The remaining Best Picture nominee is Past Lives, a terrific directorial debut from playwright Celine Song. We’re continually referencing the enthusiastic praise in our Thanksgiving blog and indie film roundup. To keep us from repeating ourselves, how about seeing the film? Check out legal options here!

This year’s Best Picture lineup is remarkably strong. According to Los Angeles Times, it is the best one since 2009, the year that the number of nominees was increased from five to 10.

We won’t wade into that debate, but we can’t help noting the success of nominated films at earlier festivals. Poor Things won the Golden Lion at Venice, and Anatomy of a Fall won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Meanwhile, Barbie became the first film to win the newly introduced Golden Globe® for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement after making over $1.4 BILLION worldwide.

Four contenders for Best Picture also earned nominations for both directing and screenwriting. They are Anatomy of a Fall, Oppenheimer, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest.

Justine Triet and Jonathan Glazer received their first Oscar® nominations for Best Director. Christopher Nolan was previously nominated for Dunkirk; Yorgos Lanthimos, for The Favourite. The fifth contender is Martin Scorsese, the only nominee who has previously won an Oscar® in the category (for The Departed).

Anatomy of a Fall, co-written by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, will compete for Best Original Screenplay with three other Best Picture contenders. They are The Holdovers by David Hemingson, Maestro by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, and Past Lives by Celine Song.

The fifth nominee for Best Original Screenplay is May December, a provocative film from director Todd Haynes. The script was written by Samy Burch, who collaborated with Alex Mechanik on the story. You can learn more in our indie film roundup!

In the race for Best Adapted Screenplay, all nominated films are also Best Picture nominees. Cord Jefferson adapted American Fiction from Percival Everett’s novel Erasure. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach based Barbie on the famous Mattel® doll. Christopher Nolan adapted Oppenheimer from Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, American Prometheus. Tony McNamara adapted Alasdair Gray’s novel Poor Things. Jonathan Glazer adapted Martin Amis’ novel The Zone of Interest.

With three exceptions, all actors and actresses nominated for Oscars® appeared in films competing for Best Picture.

None of the contenders for Best Leading Actor has won an Oscar® in the category. Only one, Bradley Cooper (Maestro), has been previously nominated (for Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper, and A Star Is Born). The other nominees are Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction). Whoever the winner is, he will earn his first Academy Award® for Leading Actor on March 10!

In the contest for Best Supporting Actor, one nominee, Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), has already won Oscars® for acting (Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II and Best Leading Actor for Raging Bull). Another nominee, Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), received his first Oscar® nomination. The other candidates are Robert Downey, Jr. (Oppenheimer), Ryan Gosling (Barbie), and Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things).

One nominee for Best Leading Actress, Emma Stone (Poor Things), has previously won the award (for La La Land). Two nominees, Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) and Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), received their first Oscar® nominations. The other candidates, Annette Bening (Nyad) and Carey Mulligan (Maestro), have not won Oscars® but have earned multiple nominations.

No nominee for Best Supporting Actress has previously won the award, but Jodie Foster (Nyad) holds 2 Oscars® for Best Leading Actress (for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs). The other nominees received their first Oscar® nominations. They are Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), America Ferrera (Barbie), and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers).

Enjoy the Show!

Since all the nominated films and filmmakers are excellent, we’re not fretting over the winners. We’re simply eager to relish the awards celebration.

It has been a wonderful year for creativity, so we would like to thank the millions of talented people who work in the film industry. Because of their efforts, audiences around the world get to enjoy hundreds of new films every year.

Finally, please join us in wishing good luck to all the nominees for Academy Awards® in 2024!