This automatically means that Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services will continue to be free to submit their films to the Oscars next year.
The Academy announced that Rule Two, which says a film is eligible to be considered for an Oscar so long as it has a seven-day run in an LA theatre, will remain unchanged for the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020, despite suggestions that it should be changed to require a longer theatrical run for potential nominees.
The rule changes were being considered after Netflix earned its first Best Picture nomination for Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, which was entered after having a three-week run across just 100 theatres in the US. Detractors like Steven Spielberg have argued that films from streaming services, which will primarily be watched on televisions, should not be considered for inclusion based on “token qualifications in a couple of theatres for less than a week.”
