When Is the 2026 Oscars Ceremony
The 98th Academy Awards are scheduled for Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The ceremony will be broadcast in the United States by ABC, with live streaming available on Hulu and Disney+ internationally. The show will begin at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time, with the main awards starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This date places the ceremony in the traditional late-March window used since 2020, avoiding conflicts with the Winter Olympics and major sporting events. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed the 2026 date in its official calendar announcement earlier this year.
Production planning for the 2026 Oscars already includes rehearsals at the Dolby Theatre and a technical rehearsal week in early March. The Academy has not yet announced the host or musical performers for the ceremony. Previous hosts for the 2024 and 2025 Oscars included Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien, but no official host announcement has been made for 2026 as of the latest public updates. The Dolby Theatre remains the designated venue, with seating capacity of approximately 3,300 for the live audience. The Academy enforces a strict no-phones policy and a formal black-tie dress code for nominees and attendees.
2026 Oscars Eligibility and Submission Rules
To qualify for the 2026 Oscars, feature films must have a qualifying theatrical run in Los Angeles County for at least seven consecutive days, with at least three screenings per day including one evening showing. The theatrical window must open in calendar year 2025, with the exact start date determined by the Academy's Board of Governors each year. Streaming-only releases remain eligible if they meet the Academy's premium video-on-demand requirements, including a minimum 17-day theatrical run in qualifying markets. The Academy's current rules also require a minimum resolution of 2K for digital submissions and adherence to the Academy Color Encoding System for color grading.
The eligibility period for the 2026 Oscars covers January 1 through December 31, 2025. Documentary and animated feature categories have additional requirements, including a minimum runtime of 40 minutes and a qualifying festival run or theatrical release. Short films and animated shorts must have a runtime of 40 minutes or less and meet specific exhibition criteria at qualifying festivals. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences publishes the full rulebook annually, and members can review the latest version on the official Academy website. For detailed rule changes and voting procedures, the Academy's official rulebook page provides the most current information.
Nominations Timeline and Voting Process for the 2026 Oscars
Nominations voting for the 2026 Oscars will open in late December 2025 and close in early January 2026. The Academy sends ballots to its approximately 10,000-plus voting members across branches including actors, directors, writers, and technical categories. Members vote only within their own branch for most categories, with all branches voting for Best Picture. The nominations announcement is scheduled for late January 2026, with the exact date announced by the Academy closer to the event. The Academy uses a ranked-choice voting system for Best Picture and a simple majority for most other categories.
Final voting for the 2026 Oscars opens immediately after the nominations announcement and closes in early March 2026. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) serves as the official accounting firm responsible for tabulating votes and securing the envelopes, a role the firm has held for over 80 years. The results are kept secret until the ceremony, with two separate sets of ballots and envelopes prepared for each category