The first new Oscar category to be introduced since 2001, that’s when best animated feature was added, more than two decades ago, will be presented for the first time at the 98th Oscars.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Art and Sciences has announced that, starting in 2026, they will begin presenting an Oscar recognizing “achievement in casting”. This will be the 24th Oscar category, and it won’t make the show any shorter.
This one is for the 160+ casting directors who have been a part of the AMPAS since 2013. They now have their own category. Rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural award will be announced in April 2025.
You won’t hear any complaints on my part. Give an Oscar to whoever cast Patrick Stewart as Professor X or Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man.
The BAFTA Awards already have a Best Casting category, which started in 2019. This year’s nominees include “All of Us Strangers,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Holdovers,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” I’m sure some of those films would have been nominated if the category existed for this year’s Oscars.
While we’re at it, the Oscars should next add a Stunt/Choreography category. That one’s long overdue. ‘John Wick 4’ filmmaker Chad Stahelski has been banging the drums hard for it and even said he’s had talks with the Academy. He’s hopeful.
I think it's something that can happen as soon as [the] next Oscars, or at least the one after that.
Is this how Tom Cruise wins his first Oscar?
Stahelski confirmed that he’s actually been meeting with the Academy to figure out a way to add a Stunt category. However, it’s more complicated than it sounds.
So, in the last couple of months, we've been meeting with members of the Academy and actually having these conversations, and, to be honest, it's been nothing but incredibly positive, incredibly instructional. I think, for the first time, we've made real movement forward to making this happen.
The complications lie in exactly who to honor. How do we do it? How do we select the best stunt? Who do we give it to?
The people against an Oscar stunt category being installed claim that awarding life risking scenarios would be bad for the industry and that serious injuries and even deaths would rise amongst the profession. You’re just tempting adrenaline junkies with a prestigious award.
Nobody wants to incentivize dangerous, potentially life ending stunts, but I’m sure Stahelski and the Academy can figure out a way around this with strict eligibility rules.