It’s the biggest night of the year for Hollywood, but what does it cost to put together the glamorous event that is The Oscars?
The 97th annual awards show, organised and hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will take place on 3 March (Monday) for 2025, hosted by Conan O’Brien, amidst calls for it to be re-scheduled or cancelled altogether this year due to the devastating fires across Los Angeles where the event takes place.
The cost of organising the Oscars has steadily increased over the years. Back in 2017 it totalled $44 million. In 2022, it cost $56.8 million, and last year, $56.9 million.
There are a huge number of factors for any event of this scale, and some unique to the Oscars alone, starting with the awards themselves.
The coveted golden man
The statues that are given as awards are 24-karat gold plated solid bronze, depicting a knight standing on a reel of film, with the five spokes in the reel representing the five original branches of the Academy: actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers.
These hard earned awards were first introduced in 1929 and have been manufactured by UAP Polich Tallix since 2015.
The process takes three months to make all 50 statuettes to be handed out to winners across all categories.
However, speaking to Chip Lupo from Wallethub, who have compiled data on this year's Academy Awards, the material value of the statue itself isn't nearly as high as the cultural one.
“Essentially, each Oscar statue have a value of about US$400. So you're going to spend all of this money, millions and million dollars, basically for the privilege of walking home with a $400 statue,” Lupo tells Azzet.
But winning the coveted award can carry a lot more value long-term for an actor, director, or the film they're in.
"Winning an Oscar comes with it, you know, a great deal of prestige and can probably set you up for future earnings pretty much for life, if you're fortunate enough to walk away with one,” Lupo says.
“Forty per cent, that's the average boost in pay that an actor or actress would get on their next film for winning an Oscar.”
Beyond the individual, films also see a financial benefit with the Best Picture winners reporting an average box office sale increase of US$6.6 million.
It's all in the details
This monumental awards show takes a lot of people to help it run smoothly on the night, from security, to a team organising the goodie bags, which in 2024 boasted a range of 50 gifts that cost a total approximate value of A$270,000.
Even the 4645 square metres (50,000 feet) of red carpet, in an exclusive shade of burgundy aptly named “Academy Red”, is handled with care, taking hundreds of hours and workers to install it and coming in at the cost of US$24,700.
The catering for the post-awards Oscars Governors ball has been handled by Wolfgang Puck for 31 years running and 2025 will see new items brought to the table, including caviar topped tater tots, an izakaya station, and both salmon matzo and eclairs in the shape of the Oscars themselves.
To wash it all down, bottles of Fleur de Miraval will be provided as the sole sparkling wine at both the Oscars and Governor's Ball for the third year running.
The $600-a-bottle brut rosé champagne took the coveted official champagne spot on the tables from Piper-Heidsieck in 2022, and is made by Champagne house Fleur de Miraval, which is co-owned by Brad Pitt.
Couture and more
Another hotly anticipated part of the show is the fashion, which racks up a hefty price tag and many of the A-listers in attendance have outfits that cost between six and seven figures.
“I was blown away at the cost for these celebrities and the look, how much they spend just to get themselves to look right for the Oscars," Lupo exclaims.
“It’s a $10 million average, the cost of the look for these A-List actresses. The record was US$18.1 million for Cate Blanchet's attire in 2014 and $40 million for Lady Gaga's Tiffany diamond [worn to the 2019 awards], which on record is the most expensive jewellery ever worn at the Oscars.”
What's on screen?
The biggest movies of this awards season scored nominations for major categories at the Oscars, including The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, and Conclave.
Emilia Pérez leads the pack with 13 nominations, the most for 2025, but has been marred with controversy ranging from the handling of topics in the film itself, which caused outcry from the Mexican and transgender community, to a slew of racist and offensive old social media posts from the film's lead actress Karla Sofía Gascon.
With a budget of US$26 million and a revenue of $10.7 million, Emilia Pérez has yet to break even.
On the other side of that coin is I'm Still Here, which has received three nominations of its own including Best Picture, and has turned a considerable profit after being filmed on a budget of just US$1.48 million and landing $14.1 million in gross sales at the time of reporting.
While betting is traditionally a sports related activity, the Oscars has no shortage of people willing to take a gamble on the wins and losses of the night.
Following the ongoing scandal surrounding Emilia Pérez, Johnny Avello, DraftKings’ director reported that his betting company realised it “probably had about a two-percent chance to win best picture”.
However, for those looking to try and increase their odds, it's best practise to look at the Golden Globes.
“Eight out of the last 10 years, the Golden Globe winner for best Actress has also won the Oscar, so the Globes can kind of be a preview,” says Lupo.
“And just for the record, Demi Moore won the Golden Globe for the Best Actress for her role in the Substance.”
When looking to the biggest category of the night, the Globes have a 36% record over the last decade of predicting which film will take home the Best Picture award.
While it is ultimately all about the films, viewership for the awards show is another key factor in the economics of the Oscars.
The all-time highest viewership came in 1998 when Titanic dominated the award nominations and drew in over 55 million viewers for the show.
The only other time the broadcast reported over 50 million viewers was in 1983 when Gandhi won Best Picture.
With those viewers comes one very important source of revenue: advertising.
Growing Academy Awards ad revenues have gone hand in hand with an increasing average price for a 30-second commercial aired during the show, with Wallethub reporting the cost of a 30-second ad slot costs US$1.95 million, which is 72% less than the cost of a slot the same length in the Superbowl.
Marketing company EDO rounded up the top 15 advertisements for the 96th Oscars and what kind of engagement they received.
And as Lupo says, the cost of these slots is a bargain compared to the revenue it pulls it.
In 2024, the revenue from advertising during the 96th Academy Awards ceremony was expected to reach $120 million, a jump from the previous $117.4 million.
This year, $127 million in ad revenue is expected, with an additional $20 million from the Red Carpet Show alone, as fashion lovers and celebrity devotees tune in to watch this year's film elite show off their looks.
The City of Angels
While the show is broadcast to more than 200 countries and territories across the world, it is Los Angeles that has played the sole host to the Oscars for decades, with the exception of a few years of bicoastal streaming in LA and New York in the 50's.
But what does that mean for the city's economy?
Annually, the economic boost that L.A. receives from the Oscars comes in at an impressive $175 million.
“That's between the hotels and the entertainment and dining and everything that goes along with it [the Oscars],” Lupo says.
And this year in particular that boost is needed more than ever, as the city rebuilds from the devastating fires.
“Southern California could use some good news and could definitely use good economic news, for sure.”
While the show will go ahead as usual, the Academy did make some caveats for the disaster when they pushed back the voted period and nominations announcement and cancelled the Nominees Luncheon, with Academy CEO Bill Kramer saying they were “committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”
“We also look forward to honouring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts," he continued, hinting at the possibility of a first responders presence the event in some capacity, following the Grammys earlier this month when LA firefighters presented Album of the Year.
