Academy Announces That Streamed Films Will Be Eligible for Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made a game-changing announcement this afternoon, a landmark moment of sorts, as it tweaked its Oscar eligibility rules and is now allowing streamed films to be eligible for the 2020 Oscars.

After an Academy board members meeting on Tuesday, a rule has been instilled which would not require a film to get a seven-day theatrical run in L.A. and/or NYC to qualify for the Academy Awards. [via Variety] Instead, films released digitally, without playing in theaters, could take part. However, films that were already meant for VOD or streaming would not qualify. To be considered, the streamed film would have already had a planned theatrical release and been forced to go digital due to the COVID-19 shutdown.

This new rule allowing streaming content to be in contention for next year’s Oscars will be put to a halt once movie theaters are allowed to re-open, whenever that may be and if that even happens this year.

This new rule means Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island,” which was moved from theatrical to VOD just yesterday, would qualify. This is also a good opportunity for Netflix, who has vehemently disregarded the theatrical experience, to take advantage of the streaming eligibility rule — it’s a major win for the streaming giant which has a heavy-hitting Oscar-bait lineup this year, including Ben Wheatley’s “Rebecca,” David Fincher’s “Mank,” Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking About Ending Things,” Ron Howard’s “Hilbilly Elegy,” Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods,” and Antonio Campos’ “The Devil All the Time.”