[In the style of Billie Eilish:] What was this made for? After an awards season that felt like it lasted for eons (with the added 2023 Emmys to make things even crazier), things are finally winding down. Oscar voting closed on February 27, so our winners have been chosen, and the ceremony is finally being held this week. We’re almost free! Ahead of his hosting gig at this year’s early-bird Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel starred in a surprisingly long Barbie-themed ad to promote the awards ceremony. We’re talking sets, costumes, and a mini cast reunion. Kate McKinnon reprised her role as Weird Barbie to rattle off some puns about this year’s nominated movies. After saying hello to Weirder Barbie (Bella from Poor Things) and facing obstacles such as Bradley Cooper’s sweat and Matt Damon’s face, the pair arrived in OscarsLand. There, America Ferrera adjusted her Barbie monologue to be about Kimmel’s upcoming hosting gig, and Ryan Gosling showed up to scream about Greta Gerwig not being nominated for Best Director. If this five-minute clip is supposed to set the tone for the actual event … what’s next, an Oscarsheimer parody at the Dolby Theatre? Below, what we know about the 96th Academy Awards.
This year, the Oscars are coming sooner than expected — one hour sooner, to be exact. The 96th Academy Awards on March 10 will begin, for the very first time, at 7 p.m. Preshow festivities will now begin at 6:30, according to an Academy press release.
Yup. It’s his fourth time celebrating the Big O. Kimmel’s become a mainstay of the Academy Awards, and with this news, he’s been the host the same number of times as Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon. It makes sense when you realize that the “I Told My Kids I Ate Their Halloween Candy” prank he runs is pretty similar to telling Glenn Close she’s finally going to win an Oscar, then giving it to Olivia Colman on her first nomination instead. How many Barbenheimer jokes will Kimmel pack into the ceremony? We’re guessing somewhere between 60 and 75.
Molly McNearney will return as executive producer of the ceremony. “We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly returning as executive producer for the Oscars,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said in a statement to Variety. “They share our love of movies and our commitment to producing a dynamic and entertaining show for our global audience.”
So far, the list of presenters the Academy has revealed includes: Mahershala Ali, Nicolas Cage, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, Michelle Yeoh, and Zendaya. Also in the mix are: Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate McKinnon, Rita Moreno, John Mulaney, Catherine O’Hara, Octavia Spencer, and Ramy Youssef. That list ranges from the expected (the winners of last year’s acting categories) to the legendary (Pacino, Lange, O’Hara) to the “glad you’re coming because we want to see what you wear on the carpet” (Zendaya, Nyong’o, Bad Bunny). We would like to see Youssef and Moreno do a little bit together onstage because it would be adorable.
Excitingly, for the first time since 2009, the ceremony will have former acting-award winners presenting all five of the current nominees in each acting category. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed on February 27 that the segment will return. The presenters list thus far includes a slew of previous acting winners (King, Moreno, Lawrence, McConaughey, Nyong’o, etc.), so you can expect them all to show up for those. One note: If Yeoh doesn’t get Lily Gladstone, then what exactly are we doing here?
An Oscars night wouldn’t be complete with just host bits, award speeches, and your gay friends cryptically tweeting mean things about whoever wins Best Actress (wait, who gave “basically an SNL performance”?). No, we also get songs. This year, all five Best Original Song nominees are performing, including Barbie’s Ryan Gosling doing “I’m Just Ken” and Billie Eilish singing “What Was I Made For?” The more dignified members of your watch party may prefer Scott George and the Osage Singers’s performance of “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon or Jon Batiste doing “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony. And then those who aren’t classy but were also “meh” on Barbie can delight in Becky G singing “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot. Unfortunately, only nominated songs are performed, so the actual best original song of the year (“Camp Isn’t Home” from Theater Camp) will have to be left behind.
The Academy Awards will be broadcast on ABC. Following the ceremony, a new episode of Abbott Elementary will air, presumably as recompense for Kimmel lying down during Quinta Brunson’s Emmys acceptance speech in 2022. It’s an ABC Family, after all.
If you’ve cut the cord, you can stream on any of the “live TV” streaming platforms, like Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV, and FuboTV. However, if you’ve just got the major streaming services, you’re out of luck. The Oscars may be broadcast on ABC, but Disney+ is not streaming the ceremony.
This post has been updated with additional information.