Oscars voters must now watch each film prior to voting

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that voters must now demonstrate they've watched every movie in a category before casting their ballots.

The new change will take effect for the March 2026 awards show. Previously, The Academy operated on an honours system, but some voters admitted to skipping nominated films. Members will now be monitored through the voters-only Academy Screening Room streaming platform, ensuring they've watched each movie in its entirety. Films seen at festivals or in cinemas will require voters to fill out a form, attesting to when it was viewed.

This verification process was previously used in preliminary and nomination voting for categories like international feature, animated feature and the short film races.

The organisation announced other new rules, which allow for the inclusion of AI tools in nominated films.

“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 wrote in a statement. "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.”

This comes after controversy arose for films like The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez utilising AI.

The 98th Academy Awards are set for March 15, 2026. The nominations voting period will run from January 12-16, with the official nominees to be announced on January 22. The final voting window will open on February 26 and close 10 days ahead of the ceremony.