On Monday, April 21, The Academy’s Board of Governors released a sweeping list of their newly approved awards rules and campaign promotional regulations for the 98th Academy Awards set for Sunday, March 15, 2026.
One of the more fascinating aspects of the new rules is how many directly address the several scandals swirling around last year’s Oscar campaign. For instance, in response to all the claims of Best Picture nominees from “The Brutalist” to “A Complete Unknown” using some form generative artificial intelligence, the Academy’s Science and Technology Council has approved new eligibility language that reads: “With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.”
Similarly, in what seems like an allusion to the Best Picture nominees announcement having so many “Nominees to be determined” that the Academy made a t-shirt to tout it, there is now a rule for films released from January 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, to have to show proof of submission for Producers Guild of America (PGA) mark certification or awards-only determination no later than September 10, 2025. For films released from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, producers must show proof of submission to the PGA no later than November 13, 2025.
Finally, in consideration of how recent contenders like “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” were submitted by the same country their dissident filmmakers took asylum in, the Best International Feature Film category has updated the eligibility requirement regarding creative control in order to be inclusive of filmmakers with refugee or asylum status. The new wording is as follows: “The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.”
On the side of campaign promotional regulations changes, a new rule that public communications (including any social media posts, reposts, shares, and comments) may not disparage the techniques used in or subject matter of any motion picture, goes hand in hand with the aforementioned AI techniques conversation that sprouted up this past awards season.
Meanwhile, the “subject matter” part of the rule is more evergreen, and not likely a direct response to some of the flack a film like “Emilia Pérez” received. The last line of the rule says any Academy member, motion picture company, or individual directly associated with an eligible motion picture found to be in violation will be subject to penalization.
As for the less referential rules and regulations, the Best Animated Short Film is now available for all Academy members to opt into voting for, as long as they see all 15 films on the shortlist. Speaking of shortlists, there will now be one for Best Cinematography featuring 10 to 20 films determined in the preliminary round of voting.
The new Achievement in Casting category will also be part of the preliminary round of voting, where a shortlist of 10 films will be determined. The category will also have a bake-off, similar to the Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Visual Effects nominees, where Casting Directors Branch members will be invited to view a presentation of the shortlisted achievements, including a Q&A with the designated nominees.
Lastly, the Music categories submission deadlines have also been split now, with Best Original Song having a deadline of Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 5 p.m. PT, and Best Original Score having a deadline of Monday, November 3, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT. And on the campaign regulations side, Oscar-qualifying film festivals can now have access to approved mailing houses to share information about festival programming with Academy members.
And if it wasn’t clear to members before, the Academy has made a definitive procedural change, telling them that they must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars. All designated nominees will also be included on the final ballot.
The 98th Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
See the latest submission deadlines and additional key dates, including voting periods, for the 98th Academy Awards below:
Thursday, August 14, 2025: First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film categories
Wednesday, September 10, 2025: First submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and RAISE form
Wednesday, October 1, 2025: Submission deadline for International Feature Film
Monday, October 6, 2025: Student Academy Awards
Thursday, October 9, 2025: Final submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film categories
Wednesday, October 15, 2025: Submission deadline for Music (Original Song) categories
Thursday, October 16, 2025: Final submission deadline for Documentary Feature Film
Monday, November 3, 2025: Submission deadline for Music (Original Score) categories
Thursday, November 13, 2025: Final submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and RAISE form
Sunday, November 16, 2025: Governors Awards
Monday, December 8, 2025: Preliminary voting begins 9 a.m. PT
Friday, December 12, 2025: Preliminary voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Tuesday, December 16, 2025: Oscars Shortlists Announcement
Saturday, January 10 and Sunday, January 11, 2026: Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Visual Effects nominating screenings (bake-offs)
Monday, January 12, 2026: Nominations voting begins 9 a.m. PT
Friday, January 16, 2026: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 22, 2026: Oscars Nominations Announcement
Tuesday, February 10, 2026: Oscars Nominees Event
Thursday, February 26, 2026: Finals voting begins 9 a.m. PT
Thursday, March 5, 2026: Finals voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, March 15, 2026: 98th Oscars
Tuesday, April 28, 2026: Scientific and Technical Awards
