
Sean Baker wins the Oscar for Best Director for “Anora” during the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 2, 2025.
This was CNBC's live blog covering the 97th annual Academy Awards.

"Anora" came out on top during the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday.
The film, distributed by Neon, took home five trophies — best picture, best editing, best director, best original screenplay and best actress. It was the most of any film nominated.
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Sean Baker, the auteur behind "Anora," is now the first person to win four Oscars for the same film.The ceremony, which was broadcast live from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on ABC, was hosted by comedian Conan O'Brien and featured announcements by Nick Offerman. It was streamed on Hulu, which suffered technical difficulties and cut out for some users just before the night's biggest prizes.
This year's awards was a night of firsts: "The Brutalist" star Adrien Brody became the first to go 2-for-2 in the best actor category, besting Timothée Chalamet, who was nominated for "A Complete Unknown."
Paul Tazewell made history as the first Black man to win an Academy Award for costume design for his work on "Wicked." The stars of the film, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, opened the ceremony, performing a trio of Oz-related songs. Watch the full performance below.
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"Flow" became the first Latvian film to claim an Academy Award, winning best animated feature, and Zoe Saldana became the first American of Dominican descent to win an Oscar, hoisting a statue for her role in Netflix's "Emilia Pérez."
Diversity shone throughout the evening, with wins for filmmakers from Brazil ("I'm Still Here") and Iran ("In the Shadow of the Cypress"). "No Other Land," named best documentary film, tracks the expulsion of communities from the West Bank by the Israeli military and comes from a collective of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers.
In the best picture contest, "Anora" beat out "The Brutalist," "A Complete Unknown," "Conclave," "Dune: Part Two," "Emilia Pérez," "I'm Still Here," "Nickel Boys," "The Substance" and "Wicked."
Here's the full list of 2025 Oscar winners:
Best supporting actor: Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Best animated feature: "Flow"
Best animated short: "In the Shadow of the Cypress"
Best costume design: Paul Tazewell, "Wicked"
Best original screenplay: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best adapted screenplay: Peter Straughan, "Conclave"
Best makeup and hairstyling: Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli, "The Substance"
Best editing: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best supporting actress: Zoe Saldana, "Emilia Pérez"
Best production design: Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales, "Wicked"
Best original song: "El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez"
Best documentary short: "The Only Girl in the Orchestra"
Best documentary feature: "No Other Land"
Best sound: "Dune: Part Two"
Best visual effects: "Dune: Part Two"
Best live-action short: "I'm Not a Robot"
Best cinematography: Lol Crawley, "The Brutalist"
Best international feature: "I'm Still Here" (Brazil)
Best original score: Daniel Blumberg, "The Brutalist"
Best actor: Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Best director: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best actress: Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Best picture: "Anora"
Sean Baker's 'battle cry' to the movie biz
Sean Baker, the auteur of best picture-winning "Anora" took the stage several times on Sunday night, winning awards for best original screenplay, best editing, best director and best picture.
During his best director speech, Baker made what he called his "battle cry," a plea to the industry to remain stalwart in its commitment to the theater.
"We are all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies," he said. "Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater. Watching a film in a theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream in fright together, perhaps, sit in devastated silence together. And in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever."
He continued by saying that the communal experience of a movie theater cannot be replicated at home and noted that the industry lost more than 1,000 screens during the Covid pandemic.
"Filmmakers: Keep making films for the big screen. I know I will," he said. "Distributors: Please focus first and foremost on the theatrical releases of your films. Neon did that for me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"Anora" took home five trophies in total, with Mikey Madison winning for best actress.
— Sarah Whitten
Hulu ends stream prematurely for some users
Hulu ended the live stream of the Oscars ceremony just before the biggest awards of the night for at least some users.
"Thank you for watching!," an on-screen message displayed. "This live event has now ended."
— Sara Salinas
Best picture

And the winner is... "Anora"
Also nominated:
"The Brutalist"
"A Complete Unknown"
"Conclave"
"Dune: Part Two"
"Emilia Pérez"
"I'm Still Here"
"Nickel Boys"
"The Substance"
"Wicked"
Best actress

And the winner is... Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Also nominated:
Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked"
Karla Sofía Gascón, "Emilia Perez"
Demi Moore, "The Substance"
Fernanda Torres, "I'm Still Here"
Best director
And the winner is... Sean Baker, "Anora"
Also nominated:
Brady Corbet, "The Brutalist
James Mangold, "A Complete Unknown"
Jacques Audiard, "Emilia Pérez"
Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance"
Best actor

And the winner is... Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Also nominated:
Timothée Chalamet, "A Complete Unknown"
Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing"
Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave"
Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice"
Quincy Jones remembered

The Academy Awards celebrated the late Quincy Jones with a brief speech from Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg that was followed by a rendition of "Ease on Down the Road" from "The Wiz."
Jones produced the musical take on "The Wizard of Oz" as well as "The Color Purple." He also produced Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album and the all-star charity recording "We Are the World."
Jones died in November after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 91.
— Sarah Whitten
Best original score
And the winner is... Daniel Blumberg, "The Brutalist"
Also nominated:
"Conclave"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Wicked"
"The Wild Robot"
Best international feature
And the winner is... "I'm Still Here" (Brazil)
Also nominated:
"The Girl With The Needle" (Denmark)
"Emilia Pérez" (France)
"The Seed of the Sacred Fig" (Germany)
"Flow" (Latvia)
Best cinematography
And the winner is... Lol Crawley, "The Brutalist"
Also nominated:
Greig Fraser, "Dune: Part Two"
Paul Guilhaume, "Emilia Pérez"
Ed Lachman, "Maria"
Jarin Blaschke, "Nosferatu"
Best live-action short film
And the winner is... "I'm Not a Robot"
Also nominated:
"A Lien"
"Anuja"
"The Last Ranger"
"The Man Who Would Not Remain Silent"
Best visual effects
And the winner is... "Dune: Part Two," awarded to Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer
Also nominated:
"Alien: Romulus"
"Better Man"
"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes"
"Wicked"
Best sound
And the winner is... "Dune: Part Two," awarded to Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill
Also nominated:
"A Complete Unknown"
"Emilia Perez"
"Wicked"
"The Wild Robot"
Best documentary feature
And the winner is... "No Other Land"
Also nominated:
"Black Box Diaries"
"Porcelain War"
"Soundtrack To A Coup D'Etat"
"Sugarcane"
Best documentary short
And the winner is... "The Only Girl in the Orchestra"
Also nominated:
"Death by Numbers"
"I Am Ready, Warden"
"Incident"
"Instruments of a Beating Heart"
Best original song
And the winner is... "El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez," awarded to Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
Also nominated:
"The Journey" from "The Six Triple Eight"
"Like a Bird" from "Sing Sing"
"Mi Camino" from "Emilia Pérez"
"Never Too Late" from "Elton John: Never Too Late"
Best production design
And the winner is... Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales, "Wicked"
Also nominated:
"The Brutalist"
"Conclave"
"Dune: Part Two"
"Nosferatu"
Best supporting actress

And the winner is... Zoe Saldana, "Emilia Pérez"
Also nominated:
Monica Barbaro, "A Complete Unknown"
Ariana Grande, "Wicked"
Felicity Jones, "The Brutalist"
Isabella Rossellini, "Conclave"
Best editing
And the winner is... Sean Baker, "Anora"
Also nominated:
"The Brutalist"
"Conclave"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Wicked"
Doja Cat, Lisa and Raye belt out James Bond hits

To celebrate the work of producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli on the James Bond franchise, the Academy Awards ceremony featured a medley of iconic opening songs from the films.
K-Pop star Lisa sang "Live and Let Die," Doja Cat belted "Diamonds Are Forever" and British singer-songwriter Raye closed the performance with a rendition of "Skyfall."

— Sarah Whitten
Best makeup and hairstyling
And the winner is... Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli, "The Substance"
Also nominated:
"A Different Man"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Nosferatu"
"Wicked"
Best adapted screenplay
And the winner is... Peter Straughan, "Conclave"
Also nominated:
"A Complete Unknown"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Nickel Boys"
"Sing Sing"
Hulu appears to be having some trouble
The Oscars are streaming live on Hulu, which is co-owned by ABC parent Disney. But not all users were having a seamless viewing experience.
Hulu Support posted in a message on X shortly after the ceremony began that some users were having trouble logging in.
"Our team is actively investigating, and we hope to have things back up and running soon," the post said.
— Sara Salinas
Disclosure: CNBC parent company Comcast is a co-owner of Hulu.
Best original screenplay
And the winner is... Sean Baker, "Anora"
Also nominated:
"The Brutalist"
"A Real Pain"
"September 5"
"The Substance"
Best costume design

And the winner is... Paul Tazewell, "Wicked"
Also nominated:
"A Complete Unknown"
"Conclave"
"Gladiator 2"
"Nosferatu"
Best animated short
And the winner is... "In the Shadow of the Cypress"
Also nominated:
"Beautiful Men"
"Magic Candies"
"Wander to Wonder"
"Yuck!"
Best animated feature
And the winner is... "Flow"
Also nominated:
"Inside Out 2"
"Memoir of a Snail"
"Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl"
"The Wild Robot"
Best supporting actor

And the winner is... Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Also nominated:
Yura Borisov, "Anora"
Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown"
Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist"
Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice"
O'Brien pokes fun at controversies and honors LA in opening monologue

Conan O'Brien has taken the stage. The comedian kicked off his monologue with a pretaped comedy sketch of him crawling out of Demi Moore's back in reference to the Academy Award nominated film "The Substance."
O'Brien spent the bulk of his monologue poking fun at nominated films like "A Complete Unknown," "Wicked" and "Conclave."
He addressed the scandal surrounding best actor nominee Karla Sofía Gascón, the emergence of artificial intelligence and Netflix's subscription price increases.
O'Brien briefly paused the jokes to somberly address the recent Los Angeles wildfires as well as the divisive political climate. He also called attention to the crews who work behind the scenes on Hollywood's biggest and smallest films.
He concluded his monologue with a quick song and dance about not wasting the audiences time.
— Sarah Whitten
The 97th Academy Awards are officially underway

Oscars night has reached its main event. The ceremony began with a montage of Los Angeles landmarks and a performance by Ariana Grande singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
After Grande opened the show — a ruby slipper-esque embellishment on her gown — her "Wicked" co-star Cynthia Erivo sang a rendition of "Home" from "The Wiz" and the pair joined forces to sing "Defying Gravity" from the 2024 blockbuster.
Watch the full performance from Grande and Erivo:
— Sara Salinas
Two musicals face off for best picture

For the first time in more than five decades two musicals are facing off in the best picture race.
"Wicked" and "Emilia Pérez" are two of 10 films up for the night's biggest prize, and both feature choreographed musical numbers.
The last time two musicals were nominated for best picture was 1969 with "Funny Girl" and "Oliver."
"Oliver" ultimately took home best picture, alongside best director, best score, best sound and best art direction.
Notably, that year was also the first, and only, time that there was a tie for best actress. Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn shared the award for "Funny Girl" and "The Lion in Winter," respectively.
The last musical to win best picture was "Chicago" in 2003.
— Sarah Whitten
Dueling best actor nominees vie to make history

Two best actor nominees are competing for Oscar records, as noted by the BBC.
Adrien Brody is hoping to go 2-for-2 in the category with his nomination for "The Brutalist" this year, after his win in 2003 for "The Pianist." He would be the first person to do so. Seven others have won two or more acting Oscars without losing one, but none have done so in the best actor category.
Brody already holds the distinction of being the youngest best actor winner, but Timothée Chalamet is looking to capture that title this year. Chalamet is nominated for his role in "A Complete Unknown." The 29-year-old would be about nine months younger than Brody was when he won two decades ago.
— Russell Leung
Disney CEO Bob Iger addresses the impact of LA wildfires
As Hollywood celebrates the best of cinema, it's also keeping its focus on wildfire recovery after devastating blazes left thousands homeless.
"We had well over 150 employees who lost their homes," said Disney CEO Bob Iger during a red carpet interview Sunday. "It was important for us not only to take care of them, but to take care of the community that we live and work in."
"I will say that while LA is resilient, it's also going to to take a long time to get over this, particularly for those who lost so much," he added.
Iger was at the Oscars supporting his company's many nods this year including eight nominations for "A Complete Unknown," and two for "A Real Pain." Disney's latest Pixar film "Inside Out 2," which was the highest-grossing film domestically in 2024, is up for best animated feature. The company's 20th Century Studios is also nominated for best visual effects of "Alien: Romulus" and "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes."
— Sarah Whitten
Inside the Oscars gift bag
Oscar nominees get a little more than a nod.
This year, the swag bag for nominees is valued at almost $220,000, according to CNBC Make It's Nicolas Vega. The "Everybody Wins" gift bag is from Los Angeles-based marketing company Distinctive Assets, not the actual Academy, and it includes goodies like hotel stays and premium skincare.
See what else goes to every nominee, whether they win or not.
— Sara Salinas
Cynthia Erivo just one award away from coveted EGOT

Cynthia Erivo's best actress nomination has put her one step closer to a coveted Hollywood feat — an EGOT.
An exclusive club, EGOT winners have won the four biggest awards in the entertainment business: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
Eriva, 38, has already snared a Tony for best leading actress in a musical for playing Celie in "The Color Purple" on Broadway. She snagged a Grammy for best musical theater album for the Broadway cast recording of that musical as well as an Emmy for outstanding musical performance in a daytime program alongside her Broadway costars of "The Color Purple."
The actress and singer was previously nominated for two Academy Awards: best actress and best original song for 2019's "Harriet." If she doesn't pull off the win this year, Erivo is already expected to be in the running for best original song at next year's Oscar ceremony, as "Wicked: For Good" will feature new music.
— Sarah Whitten
'The Substance' is only the 7th horror movie nominated for best picture
In the nearly 100-year history of the Academy Awards, films designated into the horror genre have struggled to win over Academy voters when it comes to the top prize.
Horror films have long been awarded statues for their technical achievements in sound, make-up and production design and even for the performances of its actors. But only seven have been nominated for the biggest honor of the ceremony, best picture. "Silence of the Lambs" is the only horror flick to ever hoist that golden trophy — and that was all the way back in 1992.
This year "The Substance" joins "Silence of the Lambs" alongside "The Exorcist," "Get Out," "Jaws," "The Sixth Sense" and "Black Swan" as the seventh horror film to be nominated for best picture.
The film is also nominated for best original screenplay, best director, best makeup and hairstyle and best actress, for Demi Moore.
— Sarah Whitten
Stars align for best actress and best picture nominees

For the first time since the 1978 Oscars, according to the BBC, every film with a best actress nominee also received a nod for best picture.
This year's Actress in a Leading Role contenders are Cynthia Erivo in "Wicked," Karla Sofía Gascón in "Emilia Pérez," Mikey Madison in "Anora," Demi Moore in "The Substance" and Fernanda Torres in "I'm Still Here."
In 1978, the best actress nominees were Diane Keaton in "Annie Hall," Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine in "The Turning Point," Jane Fonda in "Julia" and Marsha Mason in "The Goodbye Girl." Keaton ultimately won the award.
The feat was even more impressive at the time because there were only five best picture nominees. That number expanded to 10 starting in 2010.
— Russell Leung
Are four wins in the forecast for these nominees?
Two directors are aspiring to become the first person to win four Oscars for the same film.
Sean Baker is up for the best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best film editing awards for "Anora," while Jacques Audiard could win Oscars for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best original song for "Emilia Pérez."
Only one person has won four Oscars in one night, according to the BBC: Walt Disney in 1953, though for four different films.
"Parasite" director Bong Joon Ho won best director, best picture and best original screenplay in 2020 but missed out on the movie's best international feature film win since that award is officially given to the country where the film originated, not any single contributor.
— Russell Leung
Disney has the most animated film wins at the Oscars
Since the Academy added a best animated feature category to the Oscar ballot in 2002, Disney's animation studios have lapped up a record 15 awards out of the 23 that have been doled out.
In recent years, however, the Academy's voting body has opted to reward other studio's work with the top prize.
In 2023, Netflix and Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio" took home the prize, and in 2024 Studio Ghibli's "The Boy and the Heron" won.
The stiffer competition is less of a critique of Disney's recent string of films and more a showcase of how dynamic the animation space has become in recent years.
This year, Disney's "Inside Out 2" is up against Latvian animated film "Flow" as well as Madman Entertainment's "Memoir of a Snail," Netflix's "Wallace & Gromit: Vengence Most Fowl" and Universal's "The Wild Robot."
— Sarah Whitten
Blockbusters 'Wicked' and 'Dune: Part Two' up for awards

Academy Award-nominated features are not always the top-grossing box office features of a given year. However, for the 2025 ceremony, big blockbuster films received a number of nominations for top prizes.
"Inside Out 2," which was the highest-grossing film of 2024 is up for best animated feature. The flick snared $653 million at the domestic box office and more than $1 billion globally.
In the best picture race "Wicked" and "Dune: Part Two" were box office standouts. Ticket sales for "Wicked" represent more than half of the total box office of all 10 best picture nominees, with $472.8 million in receipts.
Meanwhile, "Dune: Part Two" accounted for 30% of the domestic best picture haul, collecting $282.7 million.
Globally, the 10 best picture films, not including "Emilia Pérez," because Netflix does not share box office data for its limited-run films, topped $900 million at the domestic box office and $1.7 billion globally.
— Sarah Whitten
Conan O'Brien to host the Oscars this year

Comedian Conan O'Brien will host the Academy Awards for the first time this year.
The selection comes after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel emceed the ceremony for two consecutive years. O'Brien has fronted three late-night talk shows, including "The Tonight Show," and currently hosts the podcast "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend."
"He is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise," Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a November statement.
— Russell Leung
Here's how to watch the Oscars this year

The 97th Academy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, sticking with the earlier start time that began with last year's ceremony. ABC has broadcast the show more than 50 times and is set to do so through 2028.
The Oscars will also stream live on Hulu for the first time. As in previous years, the ceremony will stream on online TV services like YouTube TV and Fubo, and it will be available to watch on ABC's website and app.
According to the Academy, over 200 territories around the world will also broadcast the Oscars. Local listings are available on the Academy's website.
— Russell Leung