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The Academy Awards have confirmed the creation of a Best Stunt Design Award, which will honor the industry’s stuntmen and stuntwomen community. The award will be introduced in 2028.
The creation of a Stunt Design Award comes after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences created the Achievement in Casting award, which will debut at the Oscars next year.
The Best Stunt Design Award will officially become a part of the Academy Awards in 2028, meaning movies released in 2027 will be the first batch of films that will eligible for the award.
“Since the early days of cinema, stunt design has been an integral part of filmmaking,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement. “We are proud to honor the innovative work of these technical and creative artists, and we congratulate them for their commitment and dedication in reaching this momentous occasion.”
Stunts have always been part of the magic of movies. Now, they’re part of the Oscars.
The Academy has created a new annual award for Achievement in Stunt Design—beginning with the 100th Oscars in 2028, honoring films released in 2027. pic.twitter.com/lpHen9Qk9l
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) April 10, 2025
Everyone from movie fans to actors to directors and, of course, the stunt community itself, were thrilled by the news.
“It’s very nice to see that the Academy has really heard the voices of the stunt committee, and not only did they come back with an award, I think they did a really interesting thing with giving a stunt design award, as opposed to an individual performer, because our department is one of the most collaborative and intricate of all the departments,” said John Wick director Chad Stahelski, a former stuntman himself.
“Stunts are essential to every genre of film and rooted deep in our industry’s history — from the groundbreaking work of early pioneers like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin, to the inspiring artistry of today’s stunt designers, coordinators, performers, and choreographers,” said The Fall Guy director David Leitch, who is credited with leading the charge for this award to be created.
There does seem to be one complaint among film fans, however, and it’s that the award is being introduced following the apparent conclusion of Tom Cruise’s seminal Mission: Impossible franchise, long-considered to be the peak of stunt-work in Hollywood.
“Cruise gonna make one more MISSION movie now that there’s a stunt Oscar,” tweeted No One Will Save You director Brian Duffield.
“Well-deserved and long overdue and i am elated for the hard-working stunt people… but it is soooo funny to introduce this the year after the Mission: Impossible franchise ends,” one viral tweet summarized.
“Waiting to establish this award in 2027 when then sun will have set on Tom Cruise and his stunt coordinator team after thirty years of Mission: Impossible is why The Academy becomes less relevant with every passing moment,” joked another popular post.
the academy is scared if they added the stunt category this year mission impossible would get unanimous votes and clear the competition
— cee (@rogueshunt) April 10, 2025
well-deserved and long overdue and i am elated for the hard-working stunt people….. but it is soooo funny to introduce this the year after the Mission: Impossible franchise ends https://t.co/zLiVcn8Hj0
— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) April 10, 2025
Looking back on last year, for example, it feels like either Dune: Part Two or The Fall Guy (which was literally about stuntmen) would have been the favorite to win the Best Stunt Design Award, with other potential contenders perhaps being Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Gladiator II, Twisters, Alien: Romulus, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
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