The 97th annual Academy Awards are almost here, coming to cap off an awards season that has been...eventful, to say the least. To be held just weeks after the historic L.A. wildfires, this year's ceremony will celebrate the film industry, and honor L.A. "as a city of dreams, showcasing its beauty and resilience." The awards show will also forego some Oscar traditions, following controversies among the year's frontrunners that threw a wrench in the ceremonies' planning.
Still, 2024 was a stellar year for cinema, filled with instant classics that found passionate fanbases (shoutout to the Conclave hive!) and genuine global blockbusters like Inside Out 2, Dune: Part Two, and Wicked. This year's Best Picture category is the most unpredictable in recent years, with a joyous musical (Wicked), a gruesome body-horror (The Substance), a sex-worker Cinderella story (Anora), and a three-plus hour epic (The Brutalist) among the frontrunners.
Read on to learn everything to know about the 2025 Oscars, including how to watch the ceremony and the nominated films.
The team behind Oppenheimer accepting the award for Best Picture at the 2024 Oscars.
When are the 2025 Oscars?
The 2025 Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. (Note: This is an hour earlier than the usual 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT start time for awards shows like the Golden Globes or the Grammys.)
As always, the ceremony will be held at L.A.'s Dolby Theatre.
A table of statuettes backstage at the 2024 Oscars.
How can I watch the 2025 Oscars?
Viewers who still have cable can tune into their local ABC channel, or use their cable login to watch from a computer, phone, or tablet via ABC's app or website.
For the first time, the Oscars will stream live on Hulu for all subscribers, regardless of subscription tier. The full ceremony will also be available to watch on-demand the following day.
If you don't have cable or a Hulu subscription, there are other ways to watch the Oscars online. Live streaming TV services like AT&T TV, DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, Sling TV and YouTube TV provide access to ABC (and offer free trials).
How can I watch the 2025 Oscars red carpet?
ABC's official pre-show, On the Red Carpet at the Oscars, starts at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT on March 2.
Conan O'Brien at the 2021 Emmys.
Who is hosting the 2025 Oscars?
Emmy winner Conan O'Brien will host this year's Oscars ceremony, with the comedy veteran helming the ceremony for the first time. Still, the former late-night host brings plenty of live-event experience, having hosted both the Emmys and the White House Correspondence Dinner twice.
Speaking with PEOPLE, O'Brien describes the upcoming event as "a celebration of an entire industry and people from every walk of life who give their blood, sweat, and tears for show business." He added, "I don’t want to let America down."
Who is presenting at the 2025 Oscars?
The Oscars announced that the ceremony's presenters will include: Joe Alwyn, Halle Berry, Sterling K. Brown, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Ana de Armas, Lily-Rose Depp, Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Goldie Hawn, Scarlett Johansson, John Lithgow, Connie Nielsen, Amy Poehler, Ben Stiller, June Squibb, Oprah Winfrey, and Bowen Yang, as well as last year's acting winners Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Emma Stone.
More presenters will be announced ahead of the ceremony.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande onstage at the 2024 Oscars.
Who is performing at the 2025 Oscars?
It's official: The Oscars are going to be Wicked. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will kick off the 2025 ceremony with a sure-to-be-spectacular performance.
According to the outlet, Doja Cat, Lisa of BLACKPINK, Queen Latifah, and Raye will also give "showstopping performances celebrating the filmmaking community and some of its legends."
The musical portions of the Oscars will look very different this year. In January, Academy leadership confirmed that the 2025 ceremony will not include performances of the five Original Song nominees. According to Variety, the show will instead "spotlight the songwriters through personal reflections and behind-the-scenes insights from the creative teams behind the music."
Demi Moore, among the Best Actress frontrunners, accepting the Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy award at the 2025 Golden Globes.
Who is nominated at the 2025 Oscars?
As for this year's nominees, Emilia Pérez leads with 13 nods, followed by The Brutalist and Wicked with 10, and A Complete Unknown and Conclave with six. Emilia Pérez, The Brutalist, and Wicked are all up for Best Picture, as well as Anora, Dune: Part Two, I'm Still Here, Nickel Boys, and The Substance.
Other notable nominations include Coralie Fargeat's Best Director nod for The Substance, Wicked duo Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress noms; Best Actress nominations for Hollywood legend Demi Moore (The Substance) and rising star Mikey Madison (Anora); Best Actor nods for Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice); Succession alums Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) and Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) facing off in Supporting Actor; Flow, Inside Out 2, and The Wild Robot battling it out for Animated Feature; and below-the-line nods for films including Alien: Romulus, Gladiator II, Maria, and Nosferatu.
Mikey Madison (center) and Mark Eydelshteyn (center left) in a scene from Anora.
How can I watch the movies nominated for the 2025 Oscars?
If you're trying to cover any blindspots before filling out your voting ballot on next weekend's award show, you can watch most of the major movies nominated from the comfort of your couch.
Anora, The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, Sing Sing, The Apprentice, and Wicked are all available to rent or own on-demand, while A Complete Unknown will arrive on digital platforms on February 25. All of the above are also playing in theaters nationwide, as well as international feature frontrunner I'm Still Here.
Many of the leading nominees have already made it to streaming platforms. A Different Man is on Max, A Real Pain is on Hulu, Conclave is on Peacock, Dune: Part Two is on Max, Emilia Pérez is on Netflix, Flow is on Max, Inside Out 2 is on Disney+, Nosferatu is on Peacock, The Substance is on MUBI, and The Wild Robot is on Peacock.
Also, for those of us who have too many streaming subscriptions and are willing to wait until after the ceremony: Anora will be on Hulu starting March 17, Sing Sing arrives on Max on March 21, and Wicked lands on Peacock on March 21.
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