The 97th Academy Awards are officially underway
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande perform during the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 2, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Oscars night has reached its main event. The ceremony began with a montage of Los Angeles landmarks and a performance by Ariana Grande singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
After Grande opened the show — a ruby slipper-esque embellishment on her gown — her “Wicked” co-star Cynthia Erivo sang a rendition of “Home” from “The Wiz” and the pair joined forces to sing “Defying Gravity” from the 2024 blockbuster.
— Sara Salinas
Oscar contender: Netflix film Emilia Perez
Source: Netflix
For the first time in more than five decades two musicals are facing off in the best picture race.
“Wicked” and “Emilia Pérez” are two of 10 films up for the night’s biggest prize, and both feature choreographed musical numbers.
The last time two musicals were nominated for best picture was 1969 with “Funny Girl” and “Oliver.”
“Oliver” ultimately took home best picture, alongside best director, best score, best sound and best art direction.
Notably, that year was also the first, and only, time that there was a tie for best actress. Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn shared the award for “Funny Girl” and “The Lion in Winter,” respectively.
The last musical to win best picture was “Chicago” in 2003.
— Sarah Whitten
Timothée Chalamet (L) and Adrien Brody (R) attends the 97th Annual Oscars Nominees Dinner at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on February 25, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Frazer Harrison | Getty Images
Two best actor nominees are competing for Oscar records, as noted by the BBC.
Adrien Brody is hoping to go 2-for-2 in the category with his nomination for “The Brutalist” this year, after his win in 2003 for “The Pianist.” He would be the first person to do so. Seven others have won two or more acting Oscars without losing one, but none have done so in the best actor category.
Brody already holds the distinction of being the youngest best actor winner, but Timothée Chalamet is looking to capture that title this year. Chalamet is nominated for his role in “A Complete Unknown.” The 29-year-old would be about nine months younger than Brody was when he won two decades ago.
— Russell Leung
As Hollywood celebrates the best of cinema, it’s also keeping its focus on wildfire recovery after devastating blazes left thousands homeless.
“We had well over 150 employees who lost their homes,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger during a red carpet interview Sunday. “It was important for us not only to take care of them, but to take care of the community that we live and work in.”
“I will say that while LA is resilient, it’s also going to to take a long time to get over this, particularly for those who lost so much,” he added.
Iger was at the Oscars supporting his company’s many nods this year including eight nominations for “A Complete Unknown,” and two for “A Real Pain.” Disney’s latest Pixar film “Inside Out 2,” which was the highest-grossing film domestically in 2024, is up for best animated feature. The company’s 20th Century Studios is also nominated for best visual effects of “Alien: Romulus” and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”
— Sarah Whitten
Oscar nominees get a little more than a nod.
This year, the swag bag for nominees is valued at almost $220,000, according to CNBC Make It’s Nicolas Vega. The “Everybody Wins” gift bag is from Los Angeles-based marketing company Distinctive Assets, not the actual Academy, and it includes goodies like hotel stays and premium skincare.
See what else goes to every nominee, whether they win or not.
— Sara Salinas
Cynthia Erivo at the 97th Oscars held at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2025 in Hollywood, California.
Gilbert Flores | Penske Media | Getty Images
Cynthia Erivo’s best actress nomination has put her one step closer to a coveted Hollywood feat — an EGOT.
An exclusive club, EGOT winners have won the four biggest awards in the entertainment business: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
Eriva, 38, has already snared a Tony for best leading actress in a musical for playing Celie in “The Color Purple” on Broadway. She snagged a Grammy for best musical theater album for the Broadway cast recording of that musical as well as an Emmy for outstanding musical performance in a daytime program alongside her Broadway costars of “The Color Purple.”
The actress and singer was previously nominated for two Academy Awards: best actress and best original song for 2019’s “Harriet.” If she doesn’t pull off the win this year, Erivo is already expected to be in the running for best original song at next year’s Oscar ceremony, as “Wicked: For Good” will feature new music.
— Sarah Whitten
In the nearly 100-year history of the Academy Awards, films designated into the horror genre have struggled to win over Academy voters when it comes to the top prize.
Horror films have long been awarded statues for their technical achievements in sound, make-up and production design and even for the performances of its actors. But only seven have been nominated for the biggest honor of the ceremony, best picture. “Silence of the Lambs” is the only horror flick to ever hoist that golden trophy — and that was all the way back in 1992.
This year “The Substance” joins “Silence of the Lambs” alongside “The Exorcist,” “Get Out,” “Jaws,” “The Sixth Sense” and “Black Swan” as the seventh horror film to be nominated for best picture.
The film is also nominated for best original screenplay, best director, best makeup and hairstyle and best actress, for Demi Moore.
— Sarah Whitten
(L-R) Demi Moore, Zoe Saldana and Cynthia Erivo attend the 97th Annual Oscars Nominees Dinner at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on February 25, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Emma Mcintyre | Wireimage | Getty Images
For the first time since the 1978 Oscars, according to the BBC, every film with a best actress nominee also received a nod for best picture.
This year’s Actress in a Leading Role contenders are Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked,” Karla Sofía Gascón in “Emilia Pérez,” Mikey Madison in “Anora,” Demi Moore in “The Substance” and Fernanda Torres in “I’m Still Here.”
In 1978, the best actress nominees were Diane Keaton in “Annie Hall,” Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine in “The Turning Point,” Jane Fonda in “Julia” and Marsha Mason in “The Goodbye Girl.” Keaton ultimately won the award.
The feat was even more impressive at the time because there were only five best picture nominees. That number expanded to 10 starting in 2010.
— Russell Leung
Two directors are aspiring to become the first person to win four Oscars for the same film.
Sean Baker is up for the best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best film editing awards for “Anora,” while Jacques Audiard could win Oscars for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best original song for “Emilia Pérez.”
Only one person has won four Oscars in one night, according to the BBC: Walt Disney in 1953, though for four different films.
“Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho won best director, best picture and best original screenplay in 2020 but missed out on the movie’s best international feature film win since that award is officially given to the country where the film originated, not any single contributor.
— Russell Leung
Since the Academy added a best animated feature category to the Oscar ballot in 2002, Disney’s animation studios have lapped up a record 15 awards out of the 23 that have been doled out.
In recent years, however, the Academy’s voting body has opted to reward other studio’s work with the top prize.
In 2023, Netflix and Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” took home the prize, and in 2024 Studio Ghibli’s “The Boy and the Heron” won.
The stiffer competition is less of a critique of Disney’s recent string of films and more a showcase of how dynamic the animation space has become in recent years.
This year, Disney’s “Inside Out 2” is up against Latvian animated film “Flow” as well as Madman Entertainment’s “Memoir of a Snail,” Netflix’s “Wallace & Gromit: Vengence Most Fowl” and Universal’s “The Wild Robot.”
In Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust meet new emotions.
Disney | Pixar
Academy Award-nominated features are not always the top-grossing box office features of a given year. However, for the 2025 ceremony, big blockbuster films received a number of nominations for top prizes.
“Inside Out 2,” which was the highest-grossing film of 2024 is up for best animated feature. The flick snared $653 million at the domestic box office and more than $1 billion globally.
In the best picture race “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” were box office standouts. Ticket sales for “Wicked” represent more than half of the total box office of all 10 best picture nominees, with $472.8 million in receipts.
Meanwhile, “Dune: Part Two” accounted for 30% of the domestic best picture haul, collecting $282.7 million.
Globally, the 10 best picture films, not including “Emilia Pérez,” because Netflix does not share box office data for its limited-run films, topped $900 million at the domestic box office and $1.7 billion globally.
US comedian and this year’s Oscars host Conan O’Brien participates in the rolling out of the red carpet for the Oscars arrivals area along Hollywood Boulevard during preparations for the 97th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 26, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
Comedian Conan O’Brien will host the Academy Awards for the first time this year.
The selection comes after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel emceed the ceremony for two consecutive years. O’Brien has fronted three late-night talk shows, including “The Tonight Show,” and currently hosts the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.”
“He is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a November statement.
— Russell Leung
Oscars fan Vivianne Robinson attends the red carpet roll out for the Oscars arrivals area along Hollywood Boulevard during preparations for the 97th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 26, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
The 97th Academy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, sticking with the earlier start time that began with last year’s ceremony. ABC has broadcast the show more than 50 times and is set to do so through 2028.
The Oscars will also stream live on Hulu for the first time. As in previous years, the ceremony will stream on online TV services like YouTube TV and Fubo, and it will be available to watch on ABC’s website and app.
According to the Academy, over 200 territories around the world will also broadcast the Oscars. Local listings are available on the Academy’s website.
— Russell Leung
