The 94th Oscars Best Picture lineup is only the 12th ever and the first since 2011 to consist of an even 10 films. Included among them are one of the 10 shortest nominees since the turn of the century, as well as six of the 20 longest films nominated in the past decade. 82 minutes separate the longest and shortest films in the bunch, and they all have a running time average of 139 minutes, which is 14 minutes higher than the category’s all-time average.
The current crop of Best Picture contenders have a total of 60 nominations among them covering 17 of the 23 categories. Last year’s lineup of eight amassed a total of 51 across 16 categories. Those films ranged in length from 97 to 131 minutes and had an average running time of 118 minutes. The victory of 108-minute-long “Nomadland” marked the fifth time in a decade that the year’s second shortest film was chosen as the winner. The ones that preceded it were “Green Book” (2019, 130 minutes), “Moonlight” (2017, 111 minutes), “Argo” (2013, 120 minutes), and “The Artist (2012, 100 minutes).
Check out our gallery listing this year’s 10 Best Picture nominees from shortest to longest to find out which film is in that lucky second spot, and tune into ABC on March 27 to see which one takes the gold.
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‘Belfast’ – 97 minutes
Image Credit: Rob Youngson/Focus Features This family drama about the 1960s Northern Irish Troubles falls within the top 13% of shortest films ever nominated for the top honor. It would also be the third shortest to win it, after “Marty” (1956, 90 minutes) and “Annie Hall” (1978, 93 minutes).
Additional nominations:
Best Director (Kenneth Branagh)
Best Supporting Actor (Ciarán Hinds)
Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Song (“Down to Joy”)
Best Sound -
‘CODA’ – 111 minutes
Image Credit: Apple TV+ This groundbreaking film about a child of deaf adults who yearns to forge her own life path is one of the 15 shortest Best Picture nominees of the last 10 years.
Additional nominations:
Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur)
Best Adapted Screenplay -
‘The Power of the Dog’ – 126 minutes
Image Credit: Netflix Of the six Netflix films that have contended for Best Picture, this Western about a secretive rancher who antagonizes his brother’s new wife and stepson is the shortest by four minutes.
Additional nominations:
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch)
Best Supporting Actor (Jesse Plemons)
Best Supporting Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee)
Best Supporting Actress (Kirsten Dunst)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Production Design
Best Score
Best Sound -
‘Licorice Pizza’ – 134 minutes
Image Credit: MGM In terms of running time, Paul Thomas Anderson’s ninth directorial effort, a semi-autobiographical tale set in 1970s Los Angeles, ranks between his previous two Best Picture-nominated films (“Phantom Thread,” 2018, 130 minutes and “There Will Be Blood,” 2008, 158 minutes).
Additional nominations:
Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Best Original Screenplay -
‘Don’t Look Up’ – 138 minutes
Image Credit: Niko Tavernise/Netflix This work of satire about humanity’s aloof reaction to an impending apocalypse is the third and longest Adam McKay-directed film to earn a nomination here, after “The Big Short” (2016, 130 minutes) and “Vice” (2019, 132 minutes).
Additional nominations:
Best Original Screenplay
Best Film Editing
Best Score -
‘King Richard’ – 145 minutes
Image Credit: Chiabella James/Warner Bros This account of Serena and Venus Williams’s rise to tennis stardom is the second longest sports film ever nominated in this category after “Ford v Ferrari” (2020, 152 minutes).
Additional nominations:
Best Actor (Will Smith)
Best Supporting Actress (Aunjanue Ellis)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Film Editing
Best Song (“Be Alive”) -
‘Nightmare Alley’ – 150 minutes
Image Credit: Kerry Hayes/Searchlight This film noir serves as the second screen adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham’s novel of the same name. The first was released in 1947 and runs 40 minutes shorter.
Additional nominations:
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Production Design -
‘Dune’ – 156 minutes
Image Credit: Warner Bros. This partial adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel of the same name is the first in a planned two-film series, the second of which is set to be released in 2023. A previous feature film version from 1984 covers the entire book and has a running time of only 137 minutes.
Additional nominations:
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Best Production Design
Best Score
Best Sound
Best Visual Effects -
‘West Side Story’ – 156 minutes
Image Credit: 20th Century Studios The “Romeo and Juliet”-inspired Broadway musical on which this film was based was previously adapted for the screen in 1961. That film has a running time of 152 minutes and won 10 Oscars from 11 nominations, including Best Picture.
Additional nominations:
Best Director (Steven Spielberg)
Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose)
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Production Design
Best Sound -
‘Drive My Car’ – 179 minutes
Image Credit: Culture Entertainment The first Japanese Best Picture contender also falls within the top 6% of longest films ever nominated here. The only longer ones to have been recognized in the past decade are “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2014, 180 minutes) and “The Irishman” (2020, 209 minutes), both of which were directed by Martin Scorsese.
Additional nominations:
Best Director (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best International Feature Film
