For 2027 Oscars, Actors May Compete With Themselves in Final-Round Voting, Just Like Everybody Else

Starting with next year’s Oscars, actors may have to compete with themselves in the final round of Oscar voting following a rule change announced on Friday (May 1) by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences: “In the acting category, actors may be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if those performances place in the top five votes, which aligns with achievements in other award categories.”

In other categories, people do sometimes receive multiple nominations in the final round, which is an impressive achievement but also creates a situation where they could wind up splitting their votes.

The last time a composer or team of composers had two nominees for best original score was in 2021, when Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were nominated for both Soul (which they created in tandem with Jon Batiste) and Mank. (They won for Soul.) The last time a songwriter had two nominees for best original song was in 2025, when Camille and Clément Ducol were nominated for two songs from Emilia Pérez‘s “El Mal” (which they cowrote with the film’s director, Jacques Audiard) and “Mi Camino.” (They won for “El Mal.”)

Here are other key rules tweaks that were approved by the academy’s board of governors and announced Friday.

In the original song category, the rules have long held that the first new music cue in the end credits is eligible. The academy tweaked its rules so it can more easily verify that a submitted song is indeed the first music cue in the credits: “For songs submitted as the first new music cue once the end credits begin, the video clip must include the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits begin.”

In the international feature film category, there are now two ways to submit a film for consideration. In addition to a film being submitted as an official selection by a country or region via the academy-approved selection committees, a non-English language film can now be submitted for consideration by winning a qualifying award at an international film festival as specified in the international feature film award qualifying festival list.

Qualifying festivals for the 99th Oscars are the Berlin International Film Festival (Golden Bear for best film), Busan International Film Festival (Busan Award – best film award), Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or), Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto International Film Festival (Platform Award) and Venice International Film Festival (Golden Lion).

Additionally, in that same category,  the film will henceforth be credited as the nominee rather than the country or region, and the award will be accepted by the director on behalf of the film’s creative team. The director’s name will be listed on the statuette plaque after the film title and, if applicable, the country or region.

The academy also announced several rule tweaks that respond to AI. In the acting category, only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible. In the writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible. The academy also added language that it reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship.

In the casting category, which was first awarded earlier this year, the number of statuettes awarded will increase from a maximum of two to a maximum of three statuettes.

In the cinematography category, the preliminary voting round will produce a shortlist of 20 films rather than 10-20.

In the visual effects category, all academy members must view the three-minute before-and-after reels from the visual effects “bake-off” to be eligible to vote in the final round.

In the makeup and hairstyling category, branch members must attend at least one of the two final branch meetings (roundtables) to be eligible to vote in the preliminary round.

At the Governors Awards, where typically three Academy Honorary Awards and one Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Awards are presented, a minimum of three disciplines must be represented in a given awards year.

For the complete 99th Academy Awards rules, inclusion standards and campaign promotional regulations, visit the Oscars’ website.

The academy also announced awards submission deadlines and additional key dates. The submission deadline for best original song is Wednesday, Oct. 14. The submission deadline for best original score is Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Here’s the complete list: