New rule for Oscars voting is shocking everyone that it wasn’t already required
The Academy has introduced a new rule for panelists voting in the Oscars, and it’s leaving movie lovers completely baffled that it wasn’t already required in the first place.
TheAcademy Awardsrecognize the best and brightest in themoviebiz, often considered as the most prestigious award ceremony in the industry.
Every year, millions of film enthusiasts tune in to the Awards to see which movies will take home an Oscar — but they probably didn’t know that the members voting for these works of art weren’t actually required to watch them all.
On August 11, 2025,news brokethat the Academy is now requiring panelists to watch every single nominated film in each category before they can vote in the Awards’ final round.
New Oscars rule requires voters to watch all films in every category
While this seems like something that would have been a no-brainer, it’s leaving the internet completely baffled that this wasn’t required to begin with.
In fact, voters were only encouraged to watch all films in a given category and were permitted to only vote in categories in which they felt qualified to do so.
Responses have been largely comedic, with one user writing on X: “This wasn’t already a rule?”
“This should have been the rule from the start. How do you vote on winners without even watching all the films?” another argued.
“Wow, so people could vote before without even watching? That explains why we have had some questionable awards,” yet another remarked.
This wasn’t already a rule?pic.twitter.com/c0eNzscd8a
This is just one of several changes the Academy laid out in its April overhaul, one of which included some stipulations regarding the use ofAIin films.
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According to the Academy, the use of AI tools — or lack thereof — “neither help nor harm the chances of a nomination.”
“The academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award,” the ruling reads.
AI in films and other media has been a hot topic as of late, with the likes ofYouTubesupporting legislation to protect content creatorsagainst malicious deepfakes.
And in Japan, lawmakers brought upChatGPT’s viral Ghibli trend, debating its legality as those within the anime industryspeak out against AI in the field.
