91st Academy Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().[24]

The Academy held its 10th annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 18, 2018, where the following awards were presented:[25]

• Marvin Levy – "For an exemplary career in publicity that has brought films to the minds, hearts and souls of audiences all over the world."[26]
• Lalo Schifrin – "In recognition of his unique musical style, compositional integrity and influential contributions to the art of film scoring."[26]
• Cicely Tyson – "Whose unforgettable performances and personal integrity have inspired generations of filmmakers, actors and audiences"[26]

The award honors "creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production".[27]

• Kathleen Kennedy[28]
• Frank Marshall[28]

Due to the declining viewership of the recent Academy Awards ceremonies, AMPAS sought new ideas to revamp the show while renewing interest with the nominated films. In August 2018, the organization announced plans to add a new category honoring achievement in "Popular Film".[44] The proposal was met with criticism because the award's implied focus on blockbuster suggested that artistic films and other non-mainstream pictures were not "popular with audiences."[45][46][47] Furthermore, many viewed the creation of this new category to be a ploy to boost ratings and that it could hamper critically successful mainstream films from being nominated for Best Picture despite the insistence of AMPAS that such movies could be eligible for both categories.[45][48] In light of the backlash, the Academy announced the following month that it would postpone implementation of the new category in order to seek additional input.[49] AMPAS president John Bailey later admitted that the proposed category was intended to help improve viewership, and noted that the concept of a separate award for commercial film dates back to the inaugural awards ceremony, which had separate categories for "Outstanding Picture" and "Best Unique and Artistic Picture".[50]

In an effort to shorten the ceremony, it was reported that only two of the nominees for Best Original Song, "All the Stars" and "Shallow", would be performed live.[51] After a negative reaction from audiences and industry musicians, including Lin-Manuel Miranda and members of the music branch, the Academy backtracked and announced that all five Best Original Song nominees would be performed during the ceremony.[52][53] "All the Stars" would not be performed, however, with Variety reporting that there were "logistics and timing issues" with its performers.[54]

On February 11, AMPAS announced that the presentation of four awards categories, Best Cinematography, Best Live Action Short Film, Best Film Editing, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, would occur during commercial breaks.[55] They said that these presentations would be streamed so viewers could watch them live online, and that the winners' acceptance speeches would be replayed later in the broadcast.[56] The decision received extensive backlash from audiences, and from filmmakers including Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Damien Chazelle, Spike Lee, Joe Dante and Alfonso Cuarón (the latter of whom was nominated and won in one of the aforementioned categories).[57][58] Four days later, the Academy reversed the decision and announced that all 24 categories would be presented live.[59]

When the nominations were announced, seven of the eight films nominated for Best Picture had earned a combined gross of $1.26 billion at the American and Canadian box offices at the time.[60][61] Black Panther was the highest-grossing film among the Best Picture nominees with $700 million in domestic box office receipts. A Star is Born came in second with $204.8 million; this was followed by Bohemian Rhapsody ($202.4 million), BlacKkKlansman ($48.5 million), Green Book ($42.3 million), Vice ($39.5 million), and The Favourite ($23 million).[62] Box office figures for Roma were unavailable due to distributor Netflix's policy of refusing to release such figures.[60]

Some media outlets received the broadcast positively. Chuck Barney of The Mercury News commented, "After months of bad buzz and embarrassing missteps, the 91st Academy Awards appeared to be on their way to an epic fail." He also remarked, "The show, as usual, had some rocky moments, but overall it was a lively, well-paced and entertaining affair."[63] Television critic Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe wrote, "The hostless Oscar ceremony felt a little more streamlined and energetic than usual, as we were spared yet another predictable opening goof on the nominated movies, a monologue pretending to make fun of the stars, and short quips across the night that never quite land."[64] The Hollywood Reporter television critic Daniel Fienberg quipped, "Sunday's Oscars telecast definitely confirmed that under the right circumstances, a host isn't a necessity." In addition, he said, "The show was not overwhelmed by montages or stunts or tributes, and it also wasn't weighed down by elaborately prepared presenter schtick."[65]

Others were more critical of the show. Kelly Lawler of USA Today wrote, "The 2019 Oscar telecast lacked energy and comedy, and was treacherously dull. And maybe that could have been avoided if the Academy had done what it has (almost) always done, and procured a host." She also observed that the awards "were more like a press conference with movie clips in the middle."[66] Television critic Hank Stuever of The Washington Post commented, "They kept all the speeches but lost any trace of the unpredictable magic. They opened with Queen (the actual band, fronted by their usual Freddie Mercury replacement, Adam Lambert) and a promise that 'We Will Rock You,' but we all know better. The Oscar telecast has never rocked anyone." He ended his review stating, "It's painful, year after year, to watch show business struggle to find a better way to put on a satisfying show."[67]

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 29.56 million people over its length, which was a 12% increase from the previous year's ceremony.[4] The show also earned higher Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 16.4% of households watching the ceremony.[5] In addition, it garnered a higher 18–49 demo rating with a 7.7 rating among viewers in that demographic.[68]