The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been under pressure to include a new stunt category at the Oscars for years, but it just hasn’t happened… yet
While speaking with Empire, Academy CEO Bill Kramer said, “We’re talking to members of the stunt community who are Academy members about the possibility of that. We added a new award that will launch in two years for Casting Directors, so we’re always open to those discussions.” The new award Kramer mentions was announced earlier this year. It will recognize achievement in casting and will first be presented during the 2026 Oscar ceremony. Prior to this, the last new Oscar category was Best Animated Feature, which was announced in 2001, with Shrek taking home the inaugural award.
“The Academy is like a living, breathing organism,” Academy President Janet Yang said. “We listen to our members, and if there’s really strong support and there’s whole mechanisms for how to advance the cause, and they’re interested… That’s what happened with Casting. We’ve created new branches over the decades. So it does evolve, and it evolves with the changing industry.” Seeing as it took over 20 years to create a new category, many are hoping that a stunt category won’t take nearly as long.
Those who have called for a stunt Oscar include John Wick director Chad Stahelski, who said last summer that talks with the Academy have actually been quite positive. “We’ve been meeting with members of the Academy and actually having these conversations, and, to be honest, it’s been nothing but incredibly positive, incredibly instructional,” Stahelski said. “I think, for the first time, we’ve made real movement forward to making this happen.” The director added that he could see it happening in the next three or four years at the latest.
The recent release of The Fall Guy was seen as a love letter to stunts and stunt performers and certainly sparked an interest in a stunt category at the Oscars. Unfortunately, the film has underperformed at the box office and has already been released on VOD, less than three weeks after its premiere.