The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

(also known as Oscars) presented annually by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

(AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the

producers Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes t ...

of the film and is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible to submit a nomination and vote on the final ballot. The Best Picture category is traditionally the final award of the night and is widely considered the most prestigious honor of the ceremony. The Grand Staircase columns at the

Dolby Theatre The Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) is a live-performance auditorium in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue (Los Angeles), Highland Avenue, in the Holly ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, where the Academy Awards ceremonies have been held since 2002, showcase every film that has won the Best Picture title since the award's inception. There have been 611 films nominated for Best Picture and 97 winners.

History

Category name changes

At the

1st Academy Awards The 1st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and hosted by AMPAS president Douglas Fairbanks, honored the best 1927 in film, films from 1 August 1927 to 1928 in film, 31 July 1928 a ...

ceremony held in 1929 (for films made in 1927 and 1928), there were two categories of awards that were each considered the top award of the night: "Outstanding Picture" and "Unique and Artistic Picture", the former being won by the war epic ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

'', and the latter by the art film ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

''. Each award was intended to honor different and equally important aspects of superior filmmaking. In particular, ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...

'' was disqualified from both awards, since its use of

synchronized sound Synchronized may refer to: * Synchronization (US) or ''synchronisation'' (UK), the coordination of events to operate a system in unison * ''Synchronized'' (album), a 2002 album by Sheavy * Synchronised (horse) (2003–2012), a racehorse *, a progra ...

made the film a ''

sui generis ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind" or "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". It denotes an exclusion to the larger system an object is in relation to. Several disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. ...

'' item that would have unfairly competed against either category, and the Academy granted the film an honorary award instead. The following year, the Academy dropped the ''Unique and Artistic Picture'' award, deciding retroactively that the award won by ''Wings'' was the highest honor that could be awarded, and allowed synchronized sound films to compete for the award. Although the award kept the title ''Outstanding Picture'' for the next ceremony, the name underwent several changes over the years, as seen below. Since 1962, the award has been simply called ''Best Picture''. * 1927/28– 1928/29: Academy Award for Outstanding Picture * 1929/30–

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

: Academy Award for Outstanding Production *

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

–

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

: Academy Award for Outstanding Motion Picture *

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

–

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

: Academy Award for Best Motion Picture *

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

–present: Academy Award for Best Picture

Recipients

Until 1950, this award was presented to a representative of the production company. That year the protocol was changed so that the award was presented to all credited producers. This rule was modified in 1999 to apply a maximum limit of three producers receiving the award, after the five producers of ''

Shakespeare in Love ''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 period romantic comedy film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, B ...

'' had received the award. , the "Special Rules for the Best Picture of the Year Award" limit recipients to those who meet two main requirements: * Those with

screen credit Two types of credits are traditionally used in films, television programs, and video games, all of which provide attribution to the staff involved in their productions. While opening credits will usually display only the major positions in a pro ...

of "producer" or "produced by", explicitly excluding those with the screen credit "executive producer, co-producer, associate producer, line producer, or produced in association with" * those three or fewer producers who have performed the major portion of the producing functions The rules allow a team of not more than two people to be considered a single "producer" if the two individuals have had an established producing partnership as determined by the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...

Producing Partnership Panel. Final determination of the qualifying producer nominees for each nominated picture will be made by the Producers Branch Executive Committee, including the right to name any additional qualified producer as a nominee. The Academy can make exceptions to the limit, as when

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He directed ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), ...

and

Sydney Pollack Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Pollack is known for directing commercially and critically acclaimed studio films. Over his forty year career he received numerous accolades ...

were posthumously included among the four producers nominated for ''

The Reader ''The Reader'' () is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in 1995. The story is a parable dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations have had comprehending the Holocaust; Ruth Franklin writes th ...

''. the Producers Branch Executive Committee determines such exceptions, noting they take place only in "rare and extraordinary circumstance "

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

currently holds the record for most nominations at thirteen, winning one, while Kathleen Kennedy holds the record for most nominations without a win at eight.

Sam Spiegel Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th century, Spiegel produced films that won the Academy ...

and

Saul Zaentz Saul Zaentz (; February 28, 1921January 3, 2014) was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Zaentz's film pr ...

tie for the most wins with three each. During the time when the Oscar was given to production companies instead,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

received the most, with five wins and 40 nominations.

Best Picture and Best Director

The Academy Awards for Best Picture and

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

have been closely linked throughout their history. Of the 97 films that have won Best Picture, 70 have also been awarded Best Director. Only six films have been awarded Best Picture without receiving a Best Director nomination: ''

'' directed by William A. Wellman (1927/28), '' Grand Hotel'' directed by

Edmund Goulding Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwic ...

(1931/32), ''

Driving Miss Daisy '' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on Uhry's 1987 play. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his role from th ...

'' directed by

Bruce Beresford Bruce Beresford (; born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director, opera director, screenwriter, and producer. He began his career during the Australian New Wave, and has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally ...

(1989), ''

Argo In Greek mythology, the ''Argo'' ( ; ) was the ship of Jason and the Argonauts. The ship was built with divine aid, and some ancient sources describe her as the first ship to sail the seas. The ''Argo'' carried the Argonauts on their quest fo ...

'' directed by

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

(2012), '' Green Book'' directed by

Peter Farrelly Peter John Farrelly (born December 17, 1956) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. Along with his brother Bobby Farrelly, Bobby, the Farrelly brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing quirky comedy and r ...

(2018), and '' CODA'' directed by

Sian Heder Siân Heder (; born June 23, 1977) is an American filmmaker who is best known for writing and directing the films ''Tallulah (film), Tallulah'' and ''CODA (2021 film), CODA''. ''CODA'' earned Heder an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and ...

(2021). The only two Best Director winners to win for films that did not receive a Best Picture nomination were during the early years of the awards:

Lewis Milestone Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was an American film director. Milestone directed '' Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1 ...

for '' Two Arabian Knights'' (1927/28), and

Frank Lloyd Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a Scottish-American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president from ...

for ''

The Divine Lady ''The Divine Lady'' is a 1928 American pre-Code synchronized sound historical drama film. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. It ...

'' (1928/29).

Nomination limit increased

On June 24, 2009, the

(AMPAS) announced that the number of films to be nominated in the Best Picture award category would increase from 5 to 10, starting with the

82nd Academy Awards The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2009 and took place on March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. ...

(2009). Although the Academy never officially said so, many commenters noted the expansion was likely in part a response to public criticism of ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005), and the second inst ...

'' and ''

WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American animated Romance film, romantic science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, produced b ...

'' (both 2008) (and, in previous years, other blockbusters and popular films) not being nominated for Best Picture. Officially, the Academy said the rule change was a throwback to the Academy's early years in the 1930s and 1940s, when 8 to 12 films were nominated each year. "Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going to allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," AMPAS President Sid Ganis said in a press conference. "I can't wait to see what that list of 10 looks like when the nominees are announced in February." At the same time, the voting system was switched from

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

instant runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where one or more eliminations are used to simulate runoff elections. When no candidate has a ...

(also known as preferential voting). In 2011, the Academy revised the rule again so that the number of films nominated was between 5 and 10; nominated films must earn either 5% of first-place rankings or 5% after an abbreviated variation of the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

nominating process. Bruce Davis, the Academy executive director at the time, said, "A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn't feel an obligation to round out the number." This system lasted until 2021, when the Academy reverted back to a set number of ten nominees from the

94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after their usual late February dat ...

onward.

Language and country of origin

Nineteen non-

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

films have been nominated in the category: ''

La Grande Illusion ''La Grande Illusion'' (French for "The Grand Illusion") is a 1937 French war drama film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who ...

'' (French, 1938); '' Z'' (French, 1969); '' The Emigrants'' (Swedish, 1972); ''

Cries and Whispers ''Cries And Whispers'' () is a 1972 Swedish period psychological drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. The film, set in a mansion at the end of the 19th ...

'' (Swedish, 1973); '' The Postman (Il Postino)'' (Italian/Spanish, 1995); ''

Life Is Beautiful ''Life Is Beautiful'' (, ) is a 1997 Italian period comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employs his imagin ...

'' (Italian, 1998); ''

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 epic romantic drama wuxia martial arts film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Z ...

'' (

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

, 2000); ''

Letters from Iwo Jima is a 2006 Japanese-language American war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion ...

'' (Japanese, 2006, but ineligible for Best Foreign Language Film because it was an American production); '' Amour'' (French, 2012); ''Roma'' (Spanish/Mixtec, 2018); ''

Parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

'' (Korean, 2019); ''

Minari ''Minari'' (; ) is a 2020 American drama film written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung. It stars Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh-jung, and Will Patton. A semi-autobiographical take on Chung's upbringing, its plot follow ...

'' (Korean, 2020, but ineligible for Best International Feature Film because it was an American production); '' Drive My Car'' (Japanese/Korean/Mandarin Chinese/German/

Korean Sign Language Korean Sign Language or KSL ( or short name ) is a sign language used for deaf communities of South Korea. It is one of two official languages in the country, alongside Korean. Beginnings The beginnings of KSL date from 1889,Fischer, Susan ''e ...

, 2021), ''

All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' () is a semi-autobiographical novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma during the war as well as the detachme ...

'' (German, 2022), ''

Anatomy of a Fall ''Anatomy of a Fall'' () is a 2023 French psychological legal drama film, directed by Justine Triet from a screenplay she co-wrote with Arthur Harari. It stars Sandra Hüller as a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband's death. A ...

'' (French, 2023), '' Past Lives'' (Korean, 2023, but ineligible for Best International Feature Film because it was an American production), ''

The Zone of Interest Zone of Interest or The Zone of Interest can refer to: * Zone of Interest (Auschwitz), an area surrounding Auschwitz concentration camp * ''The Zone of Interest'' (novel), a 2014 novel by Martin Amis, named after the above * ''The Zone of Intere ...

'' (German/Polish/Yiddish, 2023), '' Emilia Pérez'' (Spanish, 2024), and ''

I'm Still Here I'm Still Here may refer to: Literature * I'm Still Here (book), ''I'm Still Here'' (book), a 2018 memoir by Austin Channing Brown * ''Ainda Estou Aqui'' (in English: ''I'm Still Here''), a 2015 memoir by Marcelo Rubens Paiva Film and television * ...

'' (Portuguese, 2024). ''Parasite'' became the first film not in English to win Best Picture. Ten films wholly financed outside the United States have won Best Picture, eight of which were financed, in part or in whole, by the United Kingdom: ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' (1948), ''

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

'' (1963), '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1966), ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

'' (1981), ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

'' (1982), ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' () is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted from Puyi's 1964 auto ...

'' (1987), ''

Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel ...

'' (2008), and ''

The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ther ...

'' (2010). The ninth film, '' The Artist'' (2011), was financed in France, and the tenth film, ''

'' (2019), was financed in South Korea.

Rating

Since 1968, most Best Picture winners have been rated R under the

Motion Picture Association The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...

's rating system. ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

'' is the only G-rated film and ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with supporting roles played by Sylvia Miles, J ...

'' is the only X-rated film (what is categorized as an NC-17 film today), so far, to win Best Picture; they won in back-to-back years, 1968 and 1969. The latter has since been changed to an R rating. Eleven films have won with a PG rating: the first was '' Patton'' (1970) and the most recent was ''

'' (1989). Eleven more films have won with a PG-13 rating (which was introduced in 1984): the first was ''

'' (1987) and the most recent was '' CODA'' (2021). For unrated films, ''

A Room with a View ''A Room with a View'' is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian-era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society ...

'' (1985) is the first film to not be rated by the MPA and be nominated Best Picture, though no unrated films have won Best Picture.

Genres and mediums

Three animated films have been nominated for Best Picture: ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' (1991), '' Up'' (2009), and ''

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...

'' (2010). The latter two were nominated after the Academy expanded the number of nominees, but none have won. No comic book film has won, although three have been nominated: '' Skippy'' (1931), ''

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

'' (2018), and '' Joker'' (2019). Two fantasy films have won: '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003) and ''

The Shape of Water ''The Shape of Water'' is a 2017 period romantic dark fantasy film directed and produced by Guillermo del Toro, who co-wrote the screenplay with Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Micha ...

'' (2017), although more have been nominated. '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) is the only horror/thriller film to win Best Picture. Six others have been nominated: ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...

'' (1973), '' Jaws'' (1975), ''

The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient ( Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released ...

'' (1999), ''

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...

'' (2010), ''

Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb ...

'' (2017), and ''

The Substance ''The Substance'' is a 2024 body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. It follows a fading celebrity, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who, after being fired by her producer (Dennis Quaid) due to her age, uses a black market drug ...

'' (2024). Several science-fiction films have been nominated for Best Picture, though ''

Everything Everywhere All at Once ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American Independent film, independent Absurdist fiction, absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniels (directors), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who produced it with Russo brot ...

'' (2022) was the first one to win. ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' (1997) is the only

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...

to win Best Picture, though other such films have been nominated, including ''

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

'' (1970) and ''

The Towering Inferno ''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The ...

'' (1974). No documentary has been nominated for Best Picture, although '' Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness'' was nominated in the ''Unique and Artistic Picture'' category at the 1927/28 awards. A Best Documentary Feature category was introduced in 1941. Several musical adaptations based on material previously filmed in non-musical form have won Best Picture, including '' Gigi'', ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'', ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'', ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'', ''

'', and ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

''. Several

epics Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

or historical epic films have won Best Picture, including the first recipient ''

''. Others include '' Cimarron'', ''

Cavalcade A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass distance ride by a company of riders. Sometimes the focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display and the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. ...

'', ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'', ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel ''The Bridge over the River Kwai'', written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but u ...

'', ''

Ben-Hur Ben-Hur or Ben Hur may refer to: Fiction *'' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'', an 1880 novel by American general and author Lew Wallace ** ''Ben-Hur'' (play), a play that debuted on Broadway in 1899 ** ''Ben Hur'' (1907 film), a one-reel silent ...

'', '' Lawrence of Arabia'', '' Patton'', ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'', ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic film, epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cop ...

'', ''

'', '' Dances With Wolves'', ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...

'', ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

'', ''

Braveheart ''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American epic film, epic historical drama, historical war drama film directed and produced by Mel Gibson, who portrays Scottish warrior William Wallace in the First War of Scottish Independence against Edward I of Engl ...

'', ''

The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main charact ...

'', ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

'', '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', and '' Oppenheimer''.

Sequel nominations and winners

Ten films that were presented as direct sequels have been nominated for Best Picture: ''

The Bells of St. Mary's ''The Bells of St. Mary's'' is a 1945 American musical comedy-drama film, produced and directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. Written by Dudley Nichols and based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a priest a ...

'' (1945; the sequel to the 1944 winner, ''

Going My Way ''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest ...

''), ''

'' (1974), ''

The Godfather Part III ''The Godfather Part III'' is a 1990 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Jo ...

'' (1990), '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' (2002), '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003), ''

'' (2010), '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' (2015)'', Avatar: The Way of Water'' (2022), '' Top Gun: Maverick'' (2022), and '' Dune: Part Two'' (2024). ''Toy Story 3'', ''Mad Max: Fury Road'', and ''Top Gun: Maverick'' are the only sequels to be nominated without any predecessors being nominated. ''The Godfather Part II'' and ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' are the only sequels to have won the award, and their respective trilogies are the only series to have three films nominated. ''The Godfather'' series is the only film series with multiple Best Picture winners, with the first film winning the award for 1972 and the second film winning the award for 1974. Another nominee, ''

Broadway Melody of 1936 ''Broadway Melody of 1936'' is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the sit ...

'', was a follow-up of sorts to previous winner ''

The Broadway Melody ''The Broadway Melody'', also known as ''The Broadway Melody of 1929'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the early musicals to feature a Technicolor sequen ...

'', but beyond the title and some music, the two films have mutually independent stories. '' The Silence of the Lambs'' was adapted from the sequel novel to '' Red Dragon''. The latter had been adapted for film as '' Manhunter'' by a different studio, and the two films have different casts and creative teams and were not presented as a series. Conversely, 2024's ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...

'' uses iconography and characters who appeared in 1939's ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' and other ''Oz'' films, but is not a direct prequel to any film. ''

The Lion in Winter ''The Lion in Winter'' is a 1966 play by James Goldman, depicting the personal and political conflicts of Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children and their guests during Christmas 1183. It premiered on Broadway at the ...

'' features

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...

as King Henry II, a role he had played previously in the film ''

Becket ''Becket or The Honour of God'' (), often shortened to ''Becket'', is a 1959 stage play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's assassination in ...

'', but ''The Lion in Winter'' is not a sequel to ''Becket''. Similarly, '' The Queen'' features

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, a role he had played previously in the television film '' The Deal''.

Christine Langan Christine Langan (born January 1965) is an English film producer who was appointed Head of BBC Films in 2009. In 2016, she left the role to become CEO of comedy television production company Baby Cow Productions. After graduating from Cambri ...

, producer of both productions, described ''The Queen'' as not being a direct sequel, only that it reunited the same creative team.

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

's ''

'' was a companion piece to his film '' Flags of Our Fathers'' that was released earlier the same year. These two films depict the same battle from the different viewpoints of Japanese and United States military forces; the two films were shot back-to-back. In addition, ''

'' is a continuation of the events that occurred in '' Captain America: Civil War'' and the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

Remake nominations and winners

Along similar lines to sequels, there have been few nominees and winners that are either remakes or adaptations of the same source materials or subjects. ''

'', which won Best Picture of 1959, is a remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title and both were adapted from

Lew Wallace Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, artist, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Walla ...

's 1880 novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ''. ''

The Departed ''The Departed'' is a 2006 crime film, crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both an English-language remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film ''Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-lif ...

'', which won Best Picture of 2006, is a remake of the 2002

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

film ''

Infernal Affairs ''Infernal Affairs'' () is a 2002 Hong Kong crime drama film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak (director), Alan Mak from a screenplay written by Mak and Felix Chong. The film stars Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong ( ...

'' and is the first remake of a non-English language or international film to win. Other nominees include 1963's ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'' about the titular last queen of Egypt following the 1934 version, 2018's '' A Star is Born'' following the 1937 film of the same name, and 2019's ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'' following the 1933 film of the same name with both being adaptations of the 1868 novel. '' True Grit'', which was nominated for Best Picture at the

83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, be ...

, is the second adaptation of Charles Portis's 1968 novel following the 1969 film of the same name. Four of the nominees for the 94th ceremony were based on source material previously made into films: '' CODA'', ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

'', '' Nightmare Alley'', and ''

''. The 2021 version of ''West Side Story'' became the second adaptation of the same source material for a previous Best Picture winner to be nominated for the same award after 1962's ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...

''. For that same ceremony, ''CODA'' became the second remake of a non-English-language or international film to win. The 2022 German-language ''

'' is the second adaptation of the 1929 novel after the 1930 English-language film, and the third adaptation of the same source material of a previous Best Picture winner.

Silent film winners

At the

, the Best Picture award (then named "Academy Award for Outstanding Picture") was presented to the 1927

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

''. '' The Artist'' (2011) was the first essentially silent (with the exception of a single scene of dialogue, and a dream sequence with sound effects) film since ''Wings'' to win Best Picture. It was the first silent nominee since 1928's '' The Patriot'' and the first Best Picture winner to be produced entirely in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

since 1960's ''

The Apartment ''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, with Ray Walston and Edie ...

''. (''

'', the 1993 winner, was predominantly black-and-white but contains some color sequences.)

Version availability

No Best Picture winner has been lost, though a few such as ''

'' and '' Lawrence of Arabia'' exist only in a form altered from their original, award-winning release form. This has usually been due to editing for reissue (and subsequently partly restored by archivists). Other winners and nominees, such as ''

'' (prior to its 2018 reissues by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

and the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

) and ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', are widely available only in subsequently altered versions. ''

'' originally had some sequences photographed in two-color Technicolor. This footage survives only in black and white. The 1928 film '' The Patriot'' is the only Best Picture nominee that is lost (about one-third is extant). '' The Racket'', also from 1928, was believed lost for many years until a print was found in

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

' archives. It has since been restored and shown on

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

. The only surviving complete prints of 1931's ''

East Lynne ''East Lynne, or, The Earl's Daughter'' is an 1861 English sensation novel by Ellen Wood, writing as Mrs. Henry Wood. A Victorian-era bestseller, it is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot centering on infidelity and dou ...

'' and 1934's '' The White Parade'' exist within the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

film archive.

Diversity standards

The Academy has established a set of "representation and inclusion standards", called Academy Aperture 2025, which a film will be required to satisfy in order to compete in the Best Picture category, starting with the

96th Academy Awards The 96th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonl ...

for films released in 2023. There are four general standards, of which a film must satisfy two to be considered for Best Picture: (a) on-screen representation, themes and narratives; (b) creative leadership and project team; (c) industry access and opportunities; and (d) audience development. As explained by Vox, the standards "basically break down into two big buckets: standards promoting more inclusive representation and standards promoting more inclusive employment". The standards are intended to provide greater opportunities for employment, in cast, crew, studio apprenticeships and internships, and development, marketing, publicity, and distribution executives, among underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, LGBTQ+ people, and persons with

cognitive Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

physical disabilities A physical disability is a limitation on a person's physical functioning, mobility, dexterity or stamina. Other physical disabilities include impairments which limit other facets of daily living, such as respiratory disorders, blindness, epilepsy ...

, or who are deaf or hard of hearing. For the 94th and

95th Academy Awards The 95th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonl ...

(films released in 2021 and 2022), filmmakers were required to submit a confidential Academy Inclusion Standards form to be considered for Best Picture but were not required to fulfill the standards. These standards will only apply to the Best Picture category and do not affect a film's eligibility in other Oscar categories.

2016 ceremony mistake

At the

89th Academy Awards The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2016 in film, films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californ ...

on February 26, 2017, presenter

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

read ''

La La Land ''La La Land'' is a 2016 American musical romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love while pursuing ...

'' as the winner of the award. However, she and

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memor ...

had mistakenly been given the duplicate envelope for the "

Best Actress in a Leading Role Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

" award, which

Emma Stone Emily Jean "Emma" Stone (born November 6, 1988) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2017, she was the world's highest-paid actr ...

had won for her role in ''La La Land''. While accepting the award, ''La La Land'' producer Jordan Horowitz, who was given the correct envelope, realized the mistake and announced that ''

Moonlight Moonlight consists of mostly sunlight (with little earthlight) reflected from the parts of the Moon's surface where the Sun's light strikes. History The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras was aware that "''the sun provides the moon with its ...

'' had won the award.

Criticisms and controversies

''High Noon'' and ''The Greatest Show on Earth''

In 2013, the selection of ''The Greatest Show on Earth'' rather than ''

High Noon ''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western (genre), Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in Real time (media), real time, centers ...

'' at the

25th Academy Awards The 25th Academy Awards were held on March 19, 1953, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, and the Majestic Theatre (Columbus Circle), NBC International Theatre in New York City, to honor the films of 1952 in film, 1 ...

was listed by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' among the 10 most controversial Best Picture races. Retrospectively, ''The Greatest Show on Earth'' has been considered by some to be one of the worst Best Picture winners in history.

Diversity criticisms

In general, the awardees of that category have been criticized for disproportionately recognizing films about white men over those of women or non-white people. In opposition, the Academy's decision to favor Best Picture winning films with depiction of race relations among people of color—most primarily ''

'', '' Crash'', and '' Green Book'', all of which were directed by white filmmakers—led to significant backlash over racism against the Academy. In 2005, ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from Brokeback Mountain (short story), the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay ...

'' losing the Best Picture to '' Crash'' was heavily criticized, with some critics such as

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

accusing the Academy members of homophobia and benefitting from making a non-groundbreaking choice in ''Crash'', considered as one of the most notable Oscars upsets. After announcing the award, presenter

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...

was caught on camera mouthing the word "whoa" out of apparent surprise at the result. The film's use of moral quandary as a storytelling medium was widely reported as ironic, since many saw it as the "safe" alternative to ''Brokeback Mountain'', which is about a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

relationship (the other nominees, ''

Good Night, and Good Luck ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film directed by George Clooney from a screenplay by Clooney and Grant Heslov. It stars David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Clooney, Jeff D ...

'', '' Capote'', and ''

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

'' also tackle heavy subjects of

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

, homosexuality, and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

, respectively). Though there have been exceptions like

Barry Jenkins Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film '' Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Inde ...

's ''

'', films like '' Precious'' and ''

'' have been seen as potentially being shut out of the Best Picture race because of older and white Academy voters choosing not to see them. From 2018 onwards, the Academy made an effort to add more younger, female, non-white, and non-American voters, and to create a non-voting "emeritus" status for people who had not worked in the film industry after a certain length of time, in order to diversify and rejuvenate their voter bloc.

''Saving Private Ryan'' and ''Shakespeare in Love''

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller ( Tom Hanks) ...

'' was immediately pegged as a favorite for the category by many members and fans of Spielberg's films, but it lost to ''

.'' The Academy's decision was widely criticized. The choice was seen as one of the biggest upsets in the awards history, and led to DreamWorks executives (including Terry Press) and many industry pundits accusing

Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

and one of the ''Shakespeare in Love'' producers,

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...

, of winning due to their award campaign's negative messaging against ''Saving Private Ryan'' rather than their own film's merits. Press stated that Weinstein and Miramax "tried to get everybody to believe that ''Saving Private Ryan'' was all in the first 15 minutes".

Animated films in Best Picture category

The category of Best Animated Feature was created for the

74th Academy Awards The 74th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly ...

to ensure the recognition of animated films; prior to its creation, the only animated film ever nominated for Best Picture was 1991's ''

.'' However, the award has since received criticism on the grounds that it discourages animated films from being eligible to win Best Picture. While the Academy rules allow for a film to be nominated in both categories, only two animated films ('' Up'' and ''

'') have been nominated for Best Picture since the creation of the two categories. A prominent example was the 2001 film ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

;'' DreamWorks and producer

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...

campaigned heavily for the film to be awarded Best Picture, but it was not nominated in the category despite receiving nominations for a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy, PGA Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture,

BAFTA Award for Best Film The BAFTA Award for Best Film is a film award given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. It has been given since the 1st BAFTA Awards, representing the best films of 19 ...

, and Critics' Choice Awards for Best Picture (and was the first animated film nominated in the latter three categories). Similarly, the 2008 film ''

'' received many accolades and garnered speculation that it might be nominated for Best Picture, but it was instead nominated for six categories, tying with ''Beauty and the Beast'' as the most nominated animated films in Oscar history, and won the award for Best Animated Feature Film. Other animated films that garnered Best Picture speculation but were ultimately not nominated include ''

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio ''Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio'' is a 2022 stop-motion animated dark fantasy musical film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, from a story by Matthew Robbins and del Toro, and a screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale. It ...

'', ''

The Boy and the Heron is a 2023 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Produced by Studio Ghibli, the film's Japanese title references Genzaburō Yoshino's 1937 novel '' How Do You Live?'' but is not an adaptation of it. The film s ...

'', and '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' with the former two films winning Best Animated Feature Film at back-to-back ceremonies.

''Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' nomination

Critics and audiences criticized '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'''s nomination for Best Picture, with some calling the film one of the worst Best Picture nominees ever. Chris Krapek of ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' wrote very negatively about the film's nomination, calling the film "not only the worst reviewed Best Picture nominee of the last 10 years, uteasily the worst film of 2011". ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' Magazine's Adam Vitcavage called the film's consensus for a Best Picture nominee "certainly the worst for at least 28 years", and David Gritten of ''The Telegraph'' called the nomination "mysterious".

''Emilia Pérez'' nomination

The nomination of '' Emilia Pérez'' for Best Picture, among other categories, was heavily criticized. The main causes for criticism was that the film's trans representation was stereotypical and backwards, and its portrayal of

Mexican culture Mexico's culture emerged from the culture of the Spanish culture, Spanish Empire and the preexisting Pre-Columbian Mexico, indigenous cultures of Mexico. Mexican culture is described as the 'child' of both Western civilization, western and Indi ...

being inaccurate, along with director

Jacques Audiard Jacques Audiard (; born 30 April 1952) is a French film director, producer, and screenwriter. One of the most awarded French filmmakers in history, his international accolades include an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, and three ...

's comments about the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

being "a language of developing countries, it's a language of countries of few means, of poor people, of migrants."

Karla Sofía Gascón Karla Sofía Gascón (formerly Carlos Gascón; born 31 March 1972) is a Spanish actress. She has developed part of her career in North America, featuring in the comedy film '' The Noble Family'' (2013) and the narcoseries ''El Señor de los Cielo ...

, who plays the titular role, accused the team of fellow Best Picture nominee ''

'' (as well as its lead, fellow Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres) of running a smear campaign against her and ''Emilia Pérez'', which is explicitly against AMPAS's rules of campaigning. The accusations were found to be baseless and itself perceived as an attempt to smear Torres's and ''I'm Still Here'''s reputation. As attention grew around Gascón, a series of tweets in which she made several bigoted comments, of racist and islamophobic nature, were unearthed by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

journalist Sarah Hagi. The majority of Oscar pundits agreed that they marked the end of ''Emilia Pérez'''s, the year's most nominated film, chances of winning Best Picture.

Winners and nominees

In the list below, winners are listed first in the gold row, followed by the other nominees. Except for the early years (when the Academy used a non-calendar year), the year shown is the one in which the film first premiered in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

; normally this is also the year of first release, but it may be the year after first release (as with ''

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

'' and, if the film-festival premiere is considered, '' Crash'' and ''

The Hurt Locker ''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. T ...

''). This is also the year before the ceremony at which the award is given; for example, a film exhibited theatrically during 2005 was eligible for consideration for the 2005 Best Picture

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

, awarded in 2006. The number of the ceremony (1st, 2nd, etc.) appears in

parentheses A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

after the awards year, linked to the article on that ceremony. Each individual entry shows the title followed by nominee. Until 1950, the Best Picture award was given to the production company; from 1951 on, it has gone to the producer or producers. The Academy used the producer credits of the

(PGA) until 1998, when all five producers of ''

'' made speeches after its win. A three-producer limit has been applied some years since. There was controversy over the exclusion of some PGA-credited producers of '' Crash'' and ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road movie, road film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (in their directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of G ...

''. The Academy can make exceptions to the limit, as when

and

were posthumously among the four nominated for ''

''. However, now any number of producers on a film can be nominated for Best Picture, should they be deemed eligible. For the first ceremony, three films were nominated for the award. For the following three years, five films were nominated for the award. This was expanded to eight in 1933, to ten in 1934, and to twelve in 1935, before being dropped back to ten in 1937. In 1945, it was further reduced to five. This number remained until 2009, when the limit was raised to ten; it was adjusted from 2011 to 2020 to vary between five and ten, but has been a full ten since 2022. For the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. For example, the 2nd Academy Awards presented on April 3, 1930, recognized films that were released between August 1, 1928, and July 31, 1929. Starting with the 7th Academy Awards, held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31. This has been the rule every year since except 2020, when the end date was extended to February 28, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2021, which was correspondingly limited to March 1 to December 31. Since 2023, the category's winners and nominees from the 1927/28 and 1928/29 ceremonies have entered the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Individuals with multiple wins

;3 wins *

;2 wins *

Arthur Freed Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for ''An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals ...

Dede Gardner Dorcas Wright "Dede" Gardner (born October 16, 1967) is an American film producer. She was president since the founding of Plan B Entertainment and currently serving as Co-President with Jeremy Kleiner since 2013. She has won Oscars for produci ...

Jeremy Kleiner Jeremy Kleiner (born 1976/1977) is an American film producer. Since 2013, he has served as the co-president of Plan B Entertainment with Dede Gardner. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for four consecutive years for produc ...

* Branko Lustig * Albert S. Ruddy *

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American filmmaker. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of Music'' (1965). He was als ...

Individuals with multiple nominations

;13 nominations *

;9 nominations *

Scott Rudin Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American film, television and theatre producer. His films include the Academy Award Best Picture-winning ''No Country for Old Men'', as well as '' Uncut Gems'', '' Lady Bird'', '' Fences'', ''The Girl with ...

;8 nominations * Kathleen Kennedy *

;7 nominations *

Eric Fellner Eric Nigel Fellner, (born 10 October 1959) is a British film producer. He is the co-chairman (along with Tim Bevan) of the production company Working Title Films. Early life and education Fellner was born in England. From 1972 to 1977, he w ...

;6 nominations *

Tim Bevan Timothy John Bevan, (born 20 December 1957) is a New Zealand-British film producer, the co-chairman (with Eric Fellner) of the production company Working Title Films. Bevan and Fellner are the most successful British producers of their era. Thr ...

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he called his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon.

;5 nominations *

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and three Grammy Awards. In addition, he has been nominated for twelve Acade ...

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

* Frank Marshall * Kristie Macosko Krieger ;4 nominations *

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', and ''The Simpsons'' and directed the films '' Terms of ...

* David Brown * Ethan Coen *

Megan Ellison Margaret "Megan" Elizabeth Ellison (born January 31, 1986) is an American film producer, entrepreneur, and daughter of multibillionaire Larry Ellison. She is a founder of Annapurna Pictures, established in 2011. She produced the films ''Zero D ...

Donna Gigliotti Donna Gigliotti is an American film producer. She is best known for producing '' Shakespeare in Love'', ''Hidden Figures'', '' Silver Linings Playbook'', '' 80 For Brady'', and '' The Reader''. Gigliotti started her professional career as an as ...

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

Graham King Graham King is an English film producer. He has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the films '' The Aviator'' (2004), '' Hugo'' (2011), ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (2018), and ''The Departed'' (2006); for ...

* Marc Platt *

David Puttnam David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (; born 25 February 1941), is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include '' Chariots of Fire' ...

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

George Stevens George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''A Place in the Sun (1951 film), A Place in the Sun'' (1951) ...

Irwin Winkler Irwin Winkler (born May 25, 1931) is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's '' Double Trouble'', starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, '' They Shoo ...

;3 nominations *

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...

Lawrence Bender Lawrence Bender (born October 17, 1957) is an American film producer. Throughout his career, Bender-produced films have received 36 Academy Award nominations, resulting in eight wins. Bender rose to fame by producing '' Reservoir Dogs'' in 1992 ...

Jason Blum Jason Ferus Blum (; born February 20, 1969) is an American producer. He is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, best known for horror franchises such as ''Paranormal Activity (film series), Paranormal Activity'' (2007–2021), ''Insidi ...

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

Iain Canning Iain Alexander Canning (born July 1979) is an English film and television producer best known for producing the film ''The King's Speech'' (2010), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA award for Best Film and Best Bri ...

Ceán Chaffin Ceán Chaffin (born June 26, 1957) is an American film producer. She has won several American Film Institute awards and been nominated for multiple Academy Awards. Chaffin has frequently collaborated with her husband, director David Fincher. F ...

Robert Chartoff Robert Irwin Chartoff (August 26, 1933 – June 10, 2015) was an American film producer and philanthropist. Early life and education Chartoff was born on August 26, 1933, in New York City, the son of Bessie and William Chartoff. His family was ...

Joel Coen Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) is an American filmmaker. Working alongside his brother Ethan, the duo have directed, written, edited and produced many feature films, the most acclaimed of which include '' Blood Simple'' (1984), '' ...

Bruce Cohen Bruce L. Cohen (born September 23, 1961) is a film, television, and theater producer. He is best known for producing the films '' American Beauty'', ''Milk'', and ''Silver Linings Playbook''. ''American Beauty'' won the Academy Award for Best P ...

Christian Colson Christian Patrick Colson (born 15 September 1968) is a British film producer. He is best known as the producer of the 2008 film ''Slumdog Millionaire'', for which he received numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture, Golden ...

Michael De Luca Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. He is also the former president of production at both New Line Cinema and DreamWorks. De Luca has been nominated for three Academy Aw ...

Steve Golin Steven Aaron Golin (March 6, 1955 – April 21, 2019) was an American film and television producer and the founder and CEO of Anonymous Content LLP, a multimedia development, production and talent management company and co-founder and CEO of ...

Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu (born 15 August 1963) is a Mexican filmmaker primarily known for making modern psychological drama (film genre), psychological drama films about the human condition. His most notable films include ''Amores perros ...

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated for four Acad ...

* Ed Guiney *

David Heyman David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. Heyman is best known as the producer of all eight installments of the ''Harry Potter'' film series, which are based on a series of popular ...

* Mark Johnson *

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received that institution's Ahme ...

Robert Lorenz Robert Lorenz is an American film producer and director, best known for his collaborations with Clint Eastwood. He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture three times, for '' Mystic River'' (2003), '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' (2006 ...

* Daniel Lupi *

Ismail Merchant Ismail Merchant (born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman; 25 December 1936 – 24 May 2005) was an Indian film producer. He worked for many years in collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included film director (and Merchant's longt ...

Christopher Nolan Sir Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters with complex storytelling, he is considered a leading filmma ...

* Barrie M. Osborne * Patrick J. Palmer *

Mary Parent Mary Parent (born 1968) is an American film producer, and former studio executive. Early life and education A native of Santa Barbara, California, Parent studied business at the University of Southern California before launching a modestly suc ...

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

Emile Sherman Emile Paul Sherman (born June 1972) is an Australian film and television producer best known for producing the film '' The King's Speech'' (2010), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA award for Best Film and Best Bri ...

Emma Thomas Dame Emma Thomas, Lady Nolan (born 9 December 1971) is a British-American film producer. She has produced all of the feature films directed by her husband Christopher Nolan, which have grossed more than $6 billion worldwide and are regarded a ...

Emma Tillinger Koskoff Emma Tillinger Koskoff (born 1972) is an American film producer. She is best known for her collaborations with Martin Scorsese, including acting as a producer on his films '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), ''Silence'' (2016) and '' The Irishma ...

Hal B. Wallis Harold B. Wallis (born Aaron Blum Wolowicz; October 19, 1898 – October 5, 1986) was an American film producer. He is best known for producing ''Casablanca'' (1942), ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), and '' True Grit'' (1969), along wit ...

Fran Walsh Dame Frances Rosemary Walsh (born 10 January 1959) is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer. The partner of filmmaker Peter Jackson, Walsh has contributed to all of their films since 1989: as co-writer since ''Meet the Feebles'', and a ...

* Richard D. Zanuck ;2 nominations *

Buddy Adler E. Maurice "Buddy" Adler (June 22, 1906 – July 12, 1960) was an American film producer and production head for 20th Century Fox studios. In 1954, his production of '' From Here to Eternity'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture and in 1956, h ...

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

* Fred Berger *

Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most i ...

Mark Boal Mark Boal (born January 23, 1973) is an American journalist, screenwriter, and film producer. Boal initially worked as a journalist, writing for outlets like ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Village Voice'', ''Salon'', and '' Playboy''. Boal's 2004 arti ...

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing feature films such as '' Point Blank'' (1967), '' Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), '' Zardoz'' ...

* Cale Boyter *

John Brabourne John Ulick Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne, (9 November 1924 – 23 September 2005), professionally known as John Brabourne, was a British peer, television producer and Oscar-nominated film producer. Married to the elder daughter of 1st Earl ...

* Robbie Brenner *

Graham Broadbent Graham Neil Broadbent is a British film and television producer. Career Broadbent co-founded Mission Pictures with Andrew Hauptman and Damian Jones (producer), Damian Jones. Broadbent produced ''Welcome to Sarajevo'' (1996) by Michael Winterb ...

* Lisa Bruce *

Dana Brunetti Dana Brunetti (born June 11, 1973) is an American media executive, film producer and entrepreneur. Brunetti has been nominated for two Academy Awards for producing ''The Social Network'' and '' Captain Phillips'' and five Emmy Awards for produc ...

* Jim Burke *

Peter Chernin Peter Chernin (born May 29, 1951) is an American film and television producer, businessman and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of The Chernin Group (TCG), which he founded in 2010. TCG manages, operates and invests in businesses in the media ...

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( ; ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. List of awards and nominations received by Alfonso Cuarón, His accolades include four Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and seven BAFTA Awards. Cuarón made h ...

* Pete Czernin * J. Miles Dale *

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

Finola Dwyer Finola Dwyer (born 10 July 1963) is a UK-based New Zealand film producer and editor, best known for her films '' An Education'' and ''Brooklyn'', produced with frequent collaborator Amanda Posey. Career In 2015, Dwyer produced an historical ...

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing '' In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and '' Tár'' (2022), which were nominated for a combined fourteen Academy Award ...

* John Foreman * Gray Frederickson *

* Richard N. Gladstein * Jonathan Gordon * Jerome Hellman *

Grant Heslov Grant Heslov is an American actor and filmmaker known for his producing and writing collaborations with George Clooney, which have earned him four Oscar nominations. As a co-producer of ''Argo'' (2012), he received the Academy Award for Best Pi ...

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a part-owner of Orlando City SC of Major League ...

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

* Stanley R. Jaffe * Dan Janvey *

Dan Jinks Dan Jinks is an American film and television producer. In February 2010, Jinks launched his own film and television production company, the Dan Jinks Company.

Ross Katz Ross Katz (born May 19, 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American film producer, screenwriter and film director. He has executive produced films including '' In the Bedroom'' and '' Lost in Translation'', and has directed the films '' A ...

* A. Kitman Ho * Arnold Kopelson * Gary Kurtz *

Yorgos Lanthimos Yorgos Lanthimos (; ; born 23 September 1973) is a Greek filmmaker. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Lion, as well as nominations for five Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Lanthimos started hi ...

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...

Ernest Lehman Ernest Paul Lehman (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001 ...

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries. He is regarded by ...

* Branko Lustig *

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, author and producer, best known for his stylized crime dramas. He has received a BAFTA Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for four ...

Anthony McCarten Anthony McCarten (born 28 April 1961) is a New Zealand writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing big-budget biopics '' The Theory of Everything'' (2014), '' Darkest Hour'' (2017), '' Bohemian Rhapsody'' (2018), '' The Two Popes'' (2 ...

* Frank McCarthy *

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...

Frances McDormand Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and film producer. In a career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...

Adam McKay Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. McKay began his career as a head writer for the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') from 1995 to 2001. After leaving ''SNL'', McKay co-w ...

Barry Mendel Barry Mendel (born 1963) is an American film producer. Mendel first produced Wes Anderson’s '' Rushmore'' starring Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, which won two Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. ...

* Kevin Messick *

Arnon Milchan Arnon Milchan (; December 6, 1944) is an Israeli billionaire businessman, film producer and former spy. He has been involved in over 130 full-length motion pictures and is the founder of production company Regency Enterprises. Regency's film cre ...

* George Miller * Doug Mitchell * Gil Netter * David Parfitt *

Amy Pascal Amy Pascal (born March 25, 1958) is an American film producer and business executive. She served as the Chairwoman of the Motion Pictures Group of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Co-Chairperson of SPE, including Sony Pictures Television, ...

Jordan Peele Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for his film and television work in the Comedy film, comedy and Horror film, horror genres. He has received List of awards and nominations r ...

Julia Phillips Julia Phillips (née Miller; April 7, 1944 – January 1, 2002) was an American film producer and author. She co-produced with her husband Michael (and others) three prominent films of the 1970s—''The Sting'', ''Taxi Driver'', and ''Close En ...

* Michael Phillips *

Amanda Posey Amanda Rachel Posey (born June 1965) is a British film producer, best known for her films '' An Education'' (2009) and ''Brooklyn'' (2015), produced with frequent collaborator Finola Dwyer. She is married to novelist and screenwriter Nick Hornby ...

Sean McKittrick Sean McKittrick (born March 20, 1975) is an American film producer. He is best known for his works ''Donnie Darko'', '' Southland Tales'', for which he was nominated for Palme d'Or at 2006 Cannes Film Festival; and ''Get Out'', which earned him ...

* Fred Roos *

Charles Roven Charles "Chuck" Roven (born August 2, 1949) is an American film producer and the president and co-founder of Atlas Entertainment. He is known for producing superhero films such as ''The Dark Knight Trilogy'', '' Man of Steel'', '' Batman v Supe ...

* Albert S. Ruddy * Tracey Seaward * Ronald L. Schwary * JoAnne Sellar *

Michael Shamberg Michael Shamberg (born March 22, 1944) is an American film producer and former Time–Life correspondent. Life and career His credits include '' Erin Brockovich'', ''A Fish Called Wanda'', '' Garden State'', ''Gattaca'', ''Pulp Fiction'' and ...

Stacey Sher Stacey Sher (born November 30, 1962) is an American film producer. Early life and education Sher was born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She attended the University of Southern California, where sh ...

* Bernard Smith *

Peter Spears Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing ''Nomadland'' (2020), and for producing ...

Ray Stark Raymond Otto Stark (October 3, 1915 – January 17, 2004) was an American film producer and talent agent. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most profitable films of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, ...

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

Jenno Topping Jenno Topping is an American film producer. Films she has produced include '' Dr. Dolittle'' (1998), ''Charlie's Angels'' (2000), ''St. Vincent'' (2014), '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' (2016) and ''Hidden Figures'' (2016), which ...

* Douglas Urbanski *

Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, OAL (; ; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two ...

Jerry Wald Jerome Irving Wald (September 16, 1911 – July 13, 1962) was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs. Life and career Early life Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were act ...

Jack L. Warner Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-born American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's ca ...

Douglas Wick Douglas Wick is an American film producer whose work includes producing ''Gladiator (2000 film), Gladiator'', ''Stuart Little (film), Stuart Little'', and ''Memoirs of a Geisha (film), Memoirs of a Geisha''. Life and career Wick is the son of ...

James Woolf Sir John Woolf (15 March 1913, London – 28 June 1999, London) and his brother James Woolf (2 March 1920, London – 30 May 1966, Beverly Hills, California) were British film producers. John and James founded the production companies Romulus Fi ...

* John Woolf *

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades, he received numerous awards and accolades, including three Aca ...

Peter Yates Peter James Yates (24 July 1929 – 9 January 2011) was an English film director and producer. He was known for making films in a wide variety of genres, including the Steve McQueen police thriller film '' Bullitt'' in 1968. He received nomin ...

Sam Zimbalist Sam Zimbalist (March 31, 1901–November 4, 1958) was an American film producer and film editor. Early life Born to a Jewish family, Zimbalist began his career at 16 as an office boy to Metro Studios president Richard A. Rowland. He began t ...

Fred Zinnemann Alfred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an American film director and producer. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thriller film, thrillers, western (genre), westerns, film ...

Edward Zwick Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and historical drama, epic historical film genres and was awarded an Academy Awards, Academy Award, as well as a British Academy Film Aw ...

Production companies and distributors with multiple nominations and wins

Columbia Pictures and United Artists have the most wins with 12, while 20th Century Studios has the most nominations with 64.

Notes

References

External links

Oscars.org
(official Academy site)
Oscar.com
(official ceremony site)
The Academy Awards Database
(official site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Award For Best Picture Awards established in 1929

Picture An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a proje ...

Awards for best film

History

Category name changes

Recipients

Best Picture and Best Director

Nomination limit increased

Language and country of origin

Rating

Genres and mediums

Sequel nominations and winners

Remake nominations and winners

Silent film winners

Version availability

Diversity standards

2016 ceremony mistake

Criticisms and controversies

''High Noon'' and ''The Greatest Show on Earth''

Diversity criticisms

''Saving Private Ryan'' and ''Shakespeare in Love''

Animated films in Best Picture category

''Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' nomination

''Emilia Pérez'' nomination

Winners and nominees

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Individuals with multiple wins

Individuals with multiple nominations

Production companies and distributors with multiple nominations and wins

See also

Notes

References

External links