Laura Carollo
Research expert covering cinema and film
Academy Awards - statistics & facts
At times, a sequel might not be as thrilling as the first instalment, but many still outperform the most recent iterations. This applies to movies as well as to the 96thAcademy Awards ceremony, broadcast live on March 10, 2024. This edition recorded a total of 19.5 million TV viewers, a slight increase in comparison to the previous year. However, it was still under pre-pandemic levels, indicating that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still struggles to attract cinephiles to the silver screen. In 2024, less than four percent of people in the U.S. aged between 18 and 49 years watched the Oscars.
Almost a century after their creation, the Oscars remain more relevant than ever as the benchmark event for cinematic excellence. While their popularity with younger viewers seems to ensure the ceremony's posterity, controversies surrounding diversity cast a shadow over its legacy.
What is the Oscars ceremony about?
The Academy aims to reward the best performances in movies both in front of and behind the cameras. Because this judgment is subjective and influenced by specific campaigns – often disconnected from the marketing strategy designed for the masses – the Academy's picks are not necessarily blockbusters. However, the evening of the awards in 2024 saw the triumph of Universal, which received seven Oscars in total, all of them for “Oppenheimer”. Christopher Nolan’s movie, which depicts the life of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the first nuclear weapons, was awarded the very coveted Best Picture Oscar, as well as Best Actor in a Leading Performance for Cillian Murphy. With a total worldwide box revenue of more than 950 million U.S. dollars, the biographical thriller was among the highest-grossing movies of the year. Despite its critical and commercial success, “Barbie” only won one Academy Awards out of eight nominations, for Best Original Song.Diversity within the Academy
In 2024, women accounted for 32 percent of Oscar nominees in non-acting categories. This is the highest share since 2018. Almost a decade after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the issue of diversity seems far from resolved, as opportunities for minorities seem to be shrinking. In a recent survey, 26 percent of viewers agreed that the Academy Awards had a diversity problem in regards to their nominees. Despite predictions, Lily Gladstone (they/them) did not receive the Best Actress in a Leading Performance Oscar for their role in Martin Scorsese’s drama “Killers of the Flower Moon”. Gladstone made history by becoming the first Native American to be nominated in an acting category and would have been the first to have won.Almost a century after their creation, the Oscars remain more relevant than ever as the benchmark event for cinematic excellence. While their popularity with younger viewers seems to ensure the ceremony's posterity, controversies surrounding diversity cast a shadow over its legacy.
