The 2025 Oscar nominations have been announced with one surprising group receiving the most thunder — “nominees to be determined.”
As presenters Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott read out the Best Picture category, a number of the films had yet to decide which producers were to be nominated alongside them, meaning the duo repeatedly called out a title followed by “nominees to be determined,” drawing laughs from the audience.
“Guys paperwork, come on, come on, come on,” Sennott joked about the bizarre situation. Best Picture is generally awarded to the film’s producers provided they are found eligible by the Academy’s Producers Branch Executive Committee. Perhaps as a result of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, this process is still ongoing in some cases.
The Independent has contacted the Academy for comment.
Netflix’s divisive crime thriller Emilia Pèrez, historical drama Nickel Boys, body horror The Substance, Brazilian drama I’m Still Here and Brady Corbet’s historical epic The Brutalist all had “nominees to be determined.”
On X/Twitter, viewers joined in on the fun with one writing: “It’s a great year for nominees to be determined.”
“My feelings on the Oscar nominations? To be determined,” joked another.
A third added: “As a nominee to be determined, i am so honored to have received 5 Oscar nominations for best picture. Thank you to the academy!!”
“Congrats to ‘nominees to be determined’ for their multiple nods this year,” joked a fourth.
The nominations were originally scheduled to be announced on January 17; however, they were delayed twice due to the ongoing LA fires.
The 2025 Oscars are nevertheless expected to go ahead as planned at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on March 2 at 7 p.m. EST.
The Academy has confirmed that the event will “honor Los Angeles as the city of dreams” and “acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.”
This year’s nominees are led by Emilia Pérez with 13 nominations, while The Brutalist, Conclave and Wicked emerged with 10 nominations each.
Demi Moore (The Substance), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) and Ariana Grande (Wicked) were among the stars recognized in the acting categories.
Meanwhile, Margaret Qualley (The Substance), Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez) and Denzel Washington (Gladiator II) make up some of the most notable snubs.
