The Academy has announced their new rules for the 99th Oscars.  There are a few important changes.

To me, the biggest one is that actors can now be nominated twice in the same category.  In the past, a performer could only be nominated for one film per category.  (Occasionally, you might have someone nominated for both the lead category and the supporting category and this led to more than few instances of category fraud, where a leading performance would suddenly be listed as a supporting performance so that someone could get two nominations.)  On a practical level, this means that if Eric Roberts gives two great lead performances this year, he could end up competing against himself for Best Actor.  Or, more realistically, he might take all five slots in the Best Supporting Actor category.

AI actors are not eligible to be nominated.  So, Val Kilmer will not be eligible for As Deep As The Grave.

AI-written screenplays are always not eligible to be nominated and I’m sure this rule will not lead to any shadowy whisper campaigns once awards season begins.  (Hopefully, the sarcasm was noted.)

Best International Feature will no longer be awarded to the winner’s country of origin.  Instead, it will be awarded to the film’s director.  As well, films that win awards at a select group of international film festivals will be eligible for consideration as well.  I imagine this decision was made to get around the politics of the various submission committees.  No longer will a Palme d’Or winner be ineligible just because it was made by someone on the outs with their country’s current government.

Here are all the rule changes:

AWARDS RULES AND CAMPAIGN PROMOTIONAL REGULATIONS
APPROVED FOR 99TH OSCARS®

Additional Submission Key Dates Announced

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved awards rules, inclusion standards and campaign promotional regulations for the 99th Academy Awards®.

For Academy Awards consideration, a feature film must have a qualifying theatrical release between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2026.

Substantive awards rules changes include:

In the Acting category, actors may be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if those performances place in the top five votes, which aligns with achievements in other award categories.
Additionally, in the Acting category, only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible.

In the Casting category, the number of statuettes awarded will increase from a maximum of two to a maximum of three statuettes.

In the Cinematography category, the preliminary voting round will produce a shortlist of 20 films rather than 10-20.

In the International Feature Film category, there are now two ways to submit a film for consideration. In addition to a film being submitted as an official selection by a country or region via the Academy-approved Selection Committees, a non-English language film can now be submitted for consideration by winning a qualifying award at an international film festival as specified in the International Feature Film Award Qualifying Festival List. Qualifying festivals for the 99th Oscars® are the Berlin International Film Festival (Golden Bear for Best Film), Busan International Film Festival (Busan Award – Best Film Award), Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or), Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto International Film Festival (Platform Award) and Venice International Film Festival (Golden Lion).

Additionally, in the International Feature Film category, the film will be credited as the nominee rather than the country or region, and the award will be accepted by the director on behalf of the film’s creative team. The director’s name will be listed on the statuette plaque after the film title and, if applicable, the country or region.

In the Makeup and Hairstyling category, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch members must attend at least one of the two final branch meetings (roundtables) to be eligible to vote in the preliminary round.
In the Original Song category, the rules clarify a song’s eligibility when based on its placement in the end credits. For songs submitted as the first new music cue once the end credits begin, the video clip must include the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits begin.

In the Visual Effects category, all Academy members must view the three-minute Before and After reels from the Visual Effects Bake-Off to be eligible to vote in the final round.
In the Writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible.

For Governors Awards recipients, a minimum of three disciplines must be represented in a given Awards year.

Under Eligibility (Rule Two) regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence, the Academy reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship.
Awards submission deadlines and additional key dates are as follows:

Thursday, August 13, 2026: First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories

Thursday, September 17, 2026: First submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form

Wednesday, September 30, 2026: Submission deadline for International Feature Film

Thursday, October 8, 2026: Final submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories

Wednesday, October 14, 2026: Submission deadline for Music (Original Song)

Thursday, October 15, 2026: Final submission deadline for Documentary Feature Film

Wednesday, November 4, 2026: Submission deadline for Music (Original Score)

Thursday, November 12, 2026: Final submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form

January 8 – 10, 2027: Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Visual Effects voting events (bake-offs)