The Academy Finally Adds Oscar for Stunts

There are Academy Awards for nearly every facet of moviemaking, from directing, to writing to visual effects to costumes to production design. (A new Best Casting Oscar will be given for the first time in 2026.) But there has never been an Oscar for stunts, despite calls from many corners of the industry to add one for many years.

At last, the men and women of the stunt world will be honored by the Academy, as the organization announced today that they will finally add an Oscar for stunt design. The award will be introduced for the 100th Academy Awards in 2028 — meaning films released in the calendar year of 2027 will be the first eligible to receive the prize.

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In a statement, the leaders of the Academy, CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang, had this to say about the new award:

Since the early days of cinema, stunt design has been an integral part of filmmaking. We are proud to honor the innovative work of these technical and creative artists, and we congratulate them for their commitment and dedication in reaching this momentous occasion.

The news is extremely welcome and absurdly overdue — and for precisely the reasons laid out in the Academy’s statement. Think of all the amazing filmmakers throughout the history who relied on stunts to bring their art to life, from Buster Keaton to Tom Cruise. This won’t retroactively award any of them with Oscars for their work throughout history, but it will at least go a little way toward validating stunt performers as artists of equal merit to their colleagues in other wings of the Academy and the film industry.