Everything We Need to know About the 2025 Oscars

Everything We Need  to About the 2025 Oscars

The 97th Academy Awards is taking place in the aftermath of the devastating Los Angeles fires, which destroyed thousands of buildings and homes in the county and led to multiple fatalities.

Recovery from the wildfires and community may well influence the tone for the event, which will be hosted by comedian and television host Conan O’ Brien in early March.

“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community. The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship,” Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement on Jan. 13. 

Here’s everything to know about the 2025 Oscars

When and where are the Oscars being held?

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The red carpet portion of the show will start airing at 6:30 p.m ET, though the show itself is set to begin a half-hour later. The 7 p.m. start time, moved up an hour from the longstanding 8 p.m. start time, was introduced last year, enabling viewers to go to bed earlier and ABC to schedule more programming once the ceremony is complete.

Who is hosting?

Emmy Award-winning comedian Conan O’Brien will host the show, joining the list of other popular comedians who have taken on the gig, including Jimmy Kimmel, Chris Rock, and David Letterman. This year marks O’Brien’s first time hosting the Oscars, though he has assumed hosting duties for other awards ceremonies and prominent events, including the 2002 and 2006 Emmys, and the 1995 and 2013 White House Correspondents’ dinners.

“Conan has all the qualities of a great Oscars host—he is incredibly witty, charismatic and funny and has proven himself to be a master of live event television,” said Oscars executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan in a November press statement announcing O’Brien as host. “We are so looking forward to working with him to deliver a fresh, exciting and celebratory show for Hollywood’s biggest night.”

O’Brien takes the reins from most recent host Kimmel, whose gigs in 2024 and 2023 followed a period of experimentation during which producers brought on multiple, or no, hosts for the ceremony.

Who will be presenting the awards?

On Feb. 19, the Academy announced a slew of new names who will be handing out the awards on the big night. Actors Selena Gomez, Willem Dafoe, Sterling K. Brown, Joe Alwyn, Lily-Rose Depp, Goldie Hawn, Ben Stiller, Connie Nielsen, and Ana de Armas will be taking to the stage throughout the evening. Oprah Winfrey will also be presenting. 

They join the previously-announced Oscars presenters such as Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr., Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, and Scarlett Johansson.

Additionally, Emmy-Award winning actor Nick Offerman will work as the announcer of the show.

Which movies and actors are nominated this year?

The biggest movies of this awards season scored nominations for major categories at the Oscars, including The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, and Conclave. Emilia Pérez leads with the most nominations at 13, though the film has been met with criticism due to its representation of Mexicans and trans people—the film notably was not nominated for a GLAAD award, which are given out for fair and accurate representations of LGBTQ+ people across media. Following Emilia Pérez are Wicked and The Brutalist, both of which received 10 nods.

There were some surprises when the nominations were announced, with the international film I’m Still Here securing a Best Picture nomination, in addition to being in the running for International Feature Film and Best Actress for Fernanda Torres. Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers was also notably snubbed, missing out on both screenplay and Best Original Score, the latter of which composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won at the 2025 Golden Globes.

The nominees were announced on Thursday, Jan. 23, by actors Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang.

How have the L.A. fires impacted Oscar season?

The awards ceremony will take place two months after the start of the Los Angeles County fires, which are now 100% contained. The flames from the wildfires, at one point, threatened iconic landmarks: the Hollywood Bowl, the TCL Chinese Theatre, and the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are held. While those sites remain unharmed, thousands of structures and homes, including those of actors including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Milo Ventimiglia, and Billy Crystal, have been destroyed.

As a result of the fires, the Academy extended the Oscars nominations voting window, pushing back the nominations announcement, which was originally set to be announced on Jan. 17. “Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use this opportunity to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry,” Kramer and Yang said in a press release. “We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts.”