Your 2016 Academy Awards Guide: Everything You Need to Know
It's anyone's guess who will come away with trophies at the 88th annual Academy Awards, which will air live from Hollywood's Dolby Theater on February 28 at 8:30 PM EST on ABC, but one thing's for sure: the show's bound to be a little more rock and roll in 2016, thanks to the addition of Dave Grohl as a performer yesterday (February 18).
Lady Gaga, The Weeknd and Sam Smith are also scheduled to perform as part of the broadcast, which honors the year's highest achievements in film. Tina Fey, Ryan Gosling, Jennifer Garner, John Legend, Rachel McAdams, Daisy Ridley, Olivia Munn and Reese Witherspoon are just some of the featured presenters.
The Revenant, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a 19th-century fur trapper fighting for his life, racked up the most nominations this year with 12, while Mad Max: Fury Road earned 10. The two films will square off against The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Martian, Room and Spotlight for Best Picture.
Best Actress nominees include Carol's Cate Blanchett, Room's Brie Larson, Joy's Jennifer Lawrence, 45 Years' Charlotte Rampling and Brooklyn's Saoirse Ronan, while The Hateful Eight's Jennifer Jason Leigh, Carol's Rooney Mara, Spotlight's Rachel McAdams, The Danish Girl's Alicia Vikander and Steve Jobs' Kate Winslet are all up for the Best Supporting Actress distinction.
Where the industry's men are concerned, Trumbo's Bryan Cranston, The Martian's Matt Damon, The Revenant's Leonardo DiCaprio, Steve Jobs' Michael Fassbender and The Danish Girl's Eddie Redmayne will battle for the Best Actor, while Best Supporting Actor nominees include The Big Short's Christian Bale, The Revenant's Tom Hardy, Spotlight's Mark Ruffalo, Bridge of Spies' Mark Rylance and Creed's Sylvester Stallone.
Chris Rock, who previously hosted the 2005 Oscars, will host again in 2016 — but like many of his peers in the industry, he's been critical of the Academy's oversight of black performers, and called the Oscars "The White BET Awards" in a tweet. For the second year in a row, exclusively white actors received Oscars nominations, drawing criticism from Jada Pinkett Smith, Spike Lee, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Ruffalo, Reese Witherspoon and Tyrese Gibson, among others.
The show's red carpet will begin airing at 7 PM EST on ABC.
Look back at the 2016 SAG Awards Red Carpet: