Oscars Trivia 2018: 10 Fun Facts About The 90th Academy Awards

It’s that time of year when Hollywood bestows its best and brightest one of the greatest acting honors. Sunday marks the historic 90th Annual Academy Awards, but before the 2018 Oscars kicks off live from the Dolby Theaters in Los Angeles, here are 10 fun facts you can share with your movie-loving friends.

Best Picture Jump

There was a bump in feature films eligible for a best picture nomination in 2017. Last year, the Academy saw 336 eligible films, while this year saw 341. In comparison, 2016 only had 305 eligible films.

Awards This Year

In its lifetime, the Oscars has handed out 3,097 statuettes. In 2016, there were 48 statuettes given to winners. The 2018 show has a total of 24 categories.

Behind-The-Scenes

It takes a lot of manpower to get the Oscars up and running. There will be 60 ushers and ticket takers working at the Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland Center this year. Elsewhere, the Oscars telecast production office will include approximately 250 workers with another 270 people estimated to be working as part of the show’s crew.

Viewers At Home

The Oscars will have 735 red carpet fan bleacher seats available this time around, but that’s nothing compared to the amount of viewers expected to watch from home. With the ceremony airing in more than 225 countries, there is predicted to be “several hundred million” viewers tuning in. Last year’s show had an average audience of 33.0 million, and that’s just in the U.S.

Who Votes?

The Academy, which is made up of various members of the filmmaking industry, is responsible for voting for each year’s nominees and winners. The number of active voting members as of Dec. 21, 2017 was 7,258.

Big News

If you hear a lot about the happenings at this year’s Oscars, it’s because the show is planned to be widely covered by news organizations across the globe. The Academy gave show credentials to 299 press organizations this year out of the 785 outlets that applied. Out of those reporters, only 50 will be red carpet photographers.

Location, Location, Location

The Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland Center is currently home to the Oscars, but that wasn’t always the case. The location that has hosted the most shows is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which saw 25 ceremonies. The Dolby Theater is quickly catching up with 17 total shows, including 2018’s.

The Host With The Most

Jimmy Kimmel will be back to host Sunday’s Oscars after last year’s best picture winner snafu. He has a lot of work to do if he plans to host as many times as the late Bob Hope, though. Hope hosted the program a record-breaking 19 times.

The Show Must Go On

The 90th Annual Show kicks off at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. With a three-hour run time, the ceremony is scheduled to end at 11 p.m. EST, but it’s not uncommon for the show to run late. In order to beat the record for the longest ceremony to date, the 2018 program will have to beat the 4 hour and 23-minute run time from the 74th Oscars.

The Man Of The Hour

The Oscar statues measure in at 13.5 inches tall and weighs 8.5 pounds. The statue’s design is described as, “a stylized figure of a knight holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes signifying the five original branches of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers).”

The 2018 Oscars airs live on ABC at 8 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 4. Stay tuned to International Business Times for live up-to-the-minute coverage.