99th Oscars Rule Changes Explained
What’s New, What Changed, and Why It Matters
May 1, 2026 | Lisa Hatzenbeller
Artificial intelligence. Human authorship. Multiple acting nominations. A completely new path into International Feature. If the road to the 99th Oscars wasn’t already complicated enough, the Academy just added a few new twists – and a little more chaos.
The Academy of Board of Governors updated their rules and eligibility for the upcoming 99th Oscars.
The Biggest 99th Oscars Rule Changes, Explained
A Performer Could Now Compete Against Themselves
For the 99th Oscars, the Academy has officially brought the acting categories in line with the same voting structure already used across the rest of the Oscar races. Performers may now receive multiple nominations in the same category if their performances rank among the top five vote-getters. Previously, if an actor received votes for multiple performances in the same category, only the higher vote-getter moved forward.
On paper, the update may sound procedural. In reality, it creates a nomination-morning scenario the acting races have never had to seriously consider – competition against themselves.
Will this change eliminate “category fraud”? Potentially. Distributor’s will need to rethink campaign strategies as previously they had to decide which performances fit into the Lead or Supporting role better.
And if this change sounds unprecedented, it nearly is. The last major change to the acting rules came in 1945, after Barry Fitzgerald became the only performer in Oscar history to earn nominations in both Lead and Supporting for the same role as Father Fitzgibbon in Going My Way – later winning Best Supporting Actor. The Academy closed that loophole the following year. More than 80 years later, the acting rulebook is evolving again.
IF THIS RULE HAD EXISTED EARLIER…
2007 – Leonardo DiCaprio
Blood Diamond / The Departed
DiCaprio earned an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor for Blood Diamond, while his equally acclaimed work in The Departed fell short with the Academy despite remaining firmly in the awards conversation throughout the season. BAFTA nominated him for Best Lead Actor for The Departed, while both Critics Choice and the Golden Globes recognized him with double Best Actor nominations for both performances. Screen Actors Guild, now known as The Actor Awards, split the difference, nominating him in Lead for Blood Diamond and Supporting for The Departed.
2009 – Kate Winslet
The Reader / Revolutionary Road
Winslet won the Oscar for Best Lead Actress for The Reader, but Revolutionary Road missed the Academy’s final five despite her winning the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress, while The Reader took home the Globe for Best Supporting Actress before ultimately shifting into lead at the Oscars.
2012 – Jessica Chastain
The Help / Take Shelter / The Tree of Life
Chastain earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for The Help, but in a breakout year filled with acclaimed supporting turns, many awards watchers wondered whether The Tree of Life or Take Shelter also had enough support to crack the final five. In a fitting twist, even the Academy appeared to blur the lines, using footage from The Tree of Life as Chastain’s nominee photo instead of The Help in the Supporting Actress photo montage.
2024 – Sandra Hüller
Anatomy of a Fall / The Zone of Interest
Hüller earned an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actress for Anatomy of a Fall, while her haunting work in The Zone of Interest became one of the season’s most talked-about acting omissions. Earlier in the race, BAFTA recognized both performances, nominating her in Lead Actress for Anatomy of a Fall and Supporting Actress for The Zone of Interest.
The Academy also added another notable clarification: only performances credited in a film’s legal billing, and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent, will be eligible for consideration.
As digital doubles, de-aging, voice cloning, and AI-assisted performance tools continue to evolve, that language could have major implications for how future performances are evaluated, credited, and ultimately deemed Oscar eligible.
Artificial Intelligence, Human Authorship, and the Academy’s New Line in the Sand
In the Writing categories, the Academy has now officially codified that screenplays must be human-authored, putting one of Hollywood’s fastest-growing debates directly into the Oscar rulebook. At the same time, under Rule Two regarding generative artificial intelligence, the Academy now reserves the right to request additional information about how AI was used and who ultimately authored the work.
The distinction matters.
The Academy did not ban generative artificial intelligence from awards consideration, but it did make one thing clear: human authorship is no longer something contenders can simply assume will go unquestioned. As AI-assisted tools continue to expand across development, writing, editing, visual effects, and even performance workflows, studios may now find themselves having to do more than campaign their work – they may also have to document how it was created.
International Feature May Never Look Quite the Same
International Feature Now Has a Completely New Path to the Oscars
Non-English language films no longer have to reach the International Feature race solely through country or regional submission. They can now also qualify by winning one of six Academy-approved prizes at Berlin, Busan, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, or Venice.
In past years, acclaimed films such as Decision to Leave, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Titane, All We Imagine as Light, and La Chimera never even had a chance to compete in International Feature after being passed over by their national selection committees. Just two seasons ago, Anatomy of a Fall won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, yet France selected The Taste of Things as its official submission instead. The Taste of Things failed to earn an Oscar nomination, while Anatomy of a Fall went on to score five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, all while being shut out of International Feature entirely.
For awards watchers, festival season no longer simply shapes the International Feature conversation. It now helps build the field itself, with major festival winners entering the Oscar conversation months before countries announce their official submissions. That shift creates earlier momentum, stronger precursor narratives, and added pressure on national selection committees whose choices no longer control the category’s only path to the Academy.
It also changes the equation for filmmakers working under political pressure, censorship, or outright government opposition. In an era marked by growing political instability and artistic repression, directors who openly challenge the regimes of their home countries may no longer have to depend entirely on those same governments for a path into the Oscar race.
Just last season, Palme d’Or winner Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident was never viewed as a realistic submission from Iran given his decades-long battles with the regime, forcing France to step in. A year earlier, Mohammad Rasoulof faced a similar reality with The Seed of the Sacred Fig after his own clashes with Iranian authorities. That year, Germany stepped in as the submitter. Under the new rules, filmmakers operating in politically hostile environments no longer have to rely on diplomatic maneuvering or outside intervention for their work to remain part of the International Feature race.
The Film, Not the Country, Will Now Be the Official Nominee
The International Feature race is no longer officially recognizing countries or regions as the nominee. Moving forward, the film itself becomes the official Oscar nominee, not the country or region, and not the director. However, the director will accept the award on behalf of the film’s creative team. The director’s name will also appear on the statuette alongside the film title and, when applicable, the country or region.
The shift brings International Feature much closer to how Best Picture is recognized across the industry. The film now carries the official Oscar nomination, the producers ultimately receive the Oscar-winning credit attached to that film in databases and filmographies, and the director’s name becomes permanently tied to the physical statuette itself. That creates one of the most unusual recognition structures anywhere on the Oscar ballot, splitting the nomination, the industry credit, and the on-stage recognition in three very different directions
Other 99th Oscars Updates Worth Noting
The Casting category increases its maximum statuettes from two to three.
The Cinematography shortlist is now fixed at 20 nominees, replacing the previous range of 10 to 20.
Makeup and Hairstyling branch members must now attend one of the branch’s two final roundtable presentations to be eligible for preliminary voting.
In Visual Effects, all Academy members must now watch the category’s three-minute Before and After bakeoff reels in order to vote in the final round.
In Original Song, the Academy clarified a song’s eligibility based on its placement in the end credits. Any submission entered as the first new music cue during the end credits must now include the film’s final 15 seconds before the credits begin.
For the Governors Awards, at least three different Academy disciplines must now be represented among that year’s honorees.
The Academy Is Tightening the Campaign Trail
The Academy also updated and clarified its campaign promotional regulations for the 99th Oscars, the rules that govern how studios, distributors, filmmakers, publicists, and even Academy members can promote eligible films, performances, and creative achievements throughout awards season.
They loosened one campaign rule while tightening another. Pre-nomination screenings that include a Q&A or panel discussion may now feature up to two moderators instead of one. All approved eblasts and FYC calendar invitations sent to Academy members must now include contact information for accessibility and disability-related accommodations, including whether the host theater meets applicable requirements.
Key Submission Deadlines Also Shifted
Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2026 – Qualifying theatrical release window for feature film eligibility
Aug. 13, 2026 – First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film
Sept. 17, 2026 – First submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and the Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form
Sept. 30, 2026 – Submission deadline for International Feature Film
Oct. 8, 2026 – Final submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film categories
Oct. 14, 2026 – Submission deadline for Music (Original Song)
Oct. 15, 2026 – Final submission deadline for Documentary Feature Film
Nov. 4, 2026 – Submission deadline for Music (Original Score)
Nov. 12, 2026 – Final submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and the Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form
Jan. 8–10, 2027 – Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Visual Effects bake-off voting events
The 99th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 14, 2027.
For the complete 99th Academy Awards rules, inclusion standards, and campaign promotional regulations, visit oscars.org/rules.
