This New Oscars Rule Has Fans Asking–Were They Never Watching The Movies?
A new rule instituted ahead of the 2026 Oscars has fans asking a lot of questions.
According to the official 2026 Oscars guidelines, there’s a brand new rule in place: Judges must actually watch through all of the films that are nominated for an Oscar.
You’d think that the people behind the awards for the best movies of the year would actually bother watching all of the movies they vote on, but that’s not actually the case. Though it’s true that the Oscars original guidelines do suggest that judges watch through all the films, it wasn’t required until the 2026 Oscars rules were written.
It’s true that there are a lot of films involved in the Oscars, but that’s technically part of the job description of being a Member behind the judging. The fact that there was originally no rule about needing to watch every film involved in the judging means that many judges would only vote for movies that they had already watched or were already interested in; this leaves smaller and less publicly popular films with an immediate disadvantage.
To make matters worse, judges have access to free movie screenings before they make their vote; there’s absolutely no reason for them to avoid watching all of the movies involved in the Oscars. Unfortunately, it’s become abundantly clear — especially in recent years — that most judges don’t bother watching most of the films they’re supposedly judging.
It’s a little less surprising to see why judges have made such unpopular calls with the Oscars in the past, which has led to dropping viewership rates within the past few years. With the awards ceremony leaning more towards popularity politics and becoming ess about highlighting the true best films of the year, this rule probably won’t cause a significant change in the landscape of the Oscars, as much as fans hope it will bring about a new era for the awards.
There’s no true way for the Oscars to enforce this rule, which may mean that it just won’t do much for the movies it’s supposed to be helping. It’s disappointing to see what awards ceremonies like these have become.
