The 2026 Oscars will be held Sunday, March 15, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
See below for all the details of the night, and keep up with The Hollywood Reporter’s coverage.
The Telecast
The show will be televised live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC and streamed live on Hulu. It will also air live in more than 200 territories worldwide. The official live red carpet show will air at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on ABC, hosted by Tamron Hall and Jesse Palmer.
The Host
Conan O’Brien is returning for a second consecutive year after a well-received debut as host last year. He’s been workshopping material for three months in surprise gigs in and around Los Angeles, followed by a day in the writers room. “I get obsessive,” O’Brien told The Hollywood Reporter for this week’s cover story. “I want to turn it off, but I can’t. That’s not always a fun ride, but that’s the deal. At 62, I understand it. I tell my daughter, ‘You have to know your own owner’s manual.’ I now know the Conan Owner’s Manual.”
The Presenters
The Academy has announced a star-studded lineup of presenters, including past winners, past nominees and even past hosts. Among them are last year’s acting winners, Mikey Madison, Adrien Brody, Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña. Other presenters will include Will Arnett, Javier Bardem, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Anne Hathaway, Chase Infiniti, Paul Mescal, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum and Sigourney Weaver.
In addition, a special Bridesmaids reunion will take place including current Oscar nominee Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy. There also will be a Marvel reunion including Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. “We’re gonna have superstar superheroes, and there is also going to be an extraterrestrial on the stage,” said Katy Mullan, who is executive producing the Oscars telecast with Raj Kapoor, at a press conference this week.
The Performers
Last year, the ceremony did not feature live performances of the best original song nominees. This year, it’ll feature two of the nominated songs: “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters and “I Lied to You” from Sinners. The other three nominated songs — Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner’s “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams, Diane Warren’s “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless and “Sweet Dreams of Joy” by Nicholas Pike from Viva Verdi! — will be introduced via custom-produced segments featuring film and behind-the-scenes footage and receive support across social media.
In a letter sent to this year’s nominees, producers explained that the decision was made in the interest of keeping the show moving along and ending on time. Of their decision to choose “Golden” and “I Lied to You” in particular, they said say those songs “have played a defining role in their global cultural impact and audience connection this year.”
Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami will sing during the “Golden” performance, which also will include a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance, while Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq will perform “I Lied To You,” joined by Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith in an homage to the film’s visual style.
Additionally, the show will include appearances by Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
The Tributes
The past year has seen many notable industry deaths, from Robert Redford to Rob Reiner to Diane Keaton and the Oscar telecast producers are working to make sure those folks and more all get their due.
When Harry Met Sally stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan will be reuniting to pay tribute to Reiner, who directed the film. It’s also been reported that Barbra Streisand will perform a tribute to Robert Redford, her co-star in The Way We Were.
“It has been a really, really tough year this year, so the In Memoriam has been something we’ve been talking about for many, many months,” Mullan told reporters this week. “We’ve lost a huge amount of people this year who are so meaningful to so many in the film community. We take it really, really seriously. We have been having many, many discussions. … It continues to change right up until rehearsal, because we want to get the strike, the balance, just right and make sure that it feels like the right moment in the show for the moment in time. So I guess we can’t really go into detail of what it’s going to be this year, but we really hope that it is a tribute that moves people and feels like it does the incredible people we’ve lost this year justice.”
The Nominees
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners leads this year’s Oscar nominations with a record-breaking 16 nods, including best picture and best director. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another follows with a total of 13 nominations.
This year, the Oscars has added a new, 24th category, for best casting, with the inaugural nominees as Nina Gold (Hamnet), Jennifer Venditti (Marty Supreme), Cassandra Kulukundis (One Battle After Another), Gabriel Domingues (The Secret Agent) and Francine Maisler (Sinners).
Check out THR awards expert Scott Feinberg’s predictions of who will win and chief film critic David Rooney’s picks for who should win here.
The Parties
Awards season will officially end with a slew of parties Sunday night, where winners will be toasted and the industry will celebrate. Check out the full list of this year’s biggest bashes.