Oscars 2025 Breaks Two Decades-Old Records (And Even Beats Walt Disney)

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony made Hollywood history as director Sean Baker became the first person to win four Oscars in a single night for the same film with his indie hit Anora, surpassing Walt Disney’s longstanding achievement. While Disney famously won four statuettes in one night at the 1953 ceremony, his awards were for different films (The Living Desert, The Alaskan Eskimo, Bear Country, and Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom). Baker, by contrast, earned his quartet for producing, directing, writing, and editing Anora, marking an unprecedented sweep. Additionally, Adrien Brody made Oscar history with his Best Actor acceptance speech for The Brutalist, which lasted five minutes and forty seconds, breaking the previous record of five minutes and thirty seconds set by Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver in 1943, according to Guinness World Records.

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Baker’s record-setting achievement came with his personal wins for Best Picture (as producer), Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. When accepting his directing award, Baker emphasized the importance of theatrical exhibition, stating, “We’re all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater.” His plea continued with a passionate call to action: “Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters, are struggling. During the pandemic, we lost 1,000 screens in the U.S. We continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.” Baker’s feat surpasses even Bong Joon Ho’s 2020 achievement with Parasite, as Bong personally received three Oscars rather than four, with the International Feature Film award going to South Korea rather than to him specifically.

Brody’s record-breaking acceptance speech began with a memorable moment as he spat out his chewing gum and tossed it to his partner Georgina Chapman before taking the stage. When the orchestra attempted to play him off, Brody confidently asserted, “Turn the music off! I’ve done this before. Thank you. It’s not my first rodeo, but I will be brief.” His extended remarks covered topics ranging from antisemitism to the fragility of acting careers. “Acting is a very fragile profession,” Brody noted. “No matter where you are in your career, no matter what you’ve accomplished, it can all go away, and I think what makes this night most special is the awareness of that and the gratitude that I have to still do the work that I love.” The win represents a career resurgence for Brody, who previously won in 2003 for The Pianist but subsequently faced professional setbacks before his triumphant return in The Brutalist.

Every 2025 Oscar Win You Should Care About

Genre fans found plenty to celebrate at the 2025 Oscars, with fan-favorite blockbusters securing wins in several key technical categories. Dune: Part Two continued the franchise’s Oscar dominance by winning Best Sound and Best Visual Effects, following in the footsteps of its predecessor, which claimed similar honors in 2022. The film overcame strong competition in the Visual Effects category, defeating fellow franchise entries Alien: Romulus, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Wicked. Greig Fraser’s acclaimed cinematography for Dune: Part Two was nominated but ultimately lost to Lol Crawley’s work on The Brutalist.

Jon M. Chu’s Wicked adaptation emerged as another big winner for genre enthusiasts, capturing both Best Costume Design for Paul Tazewell and Best Production Design for Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales. These victories validated the film’s meticulous recreation of Oz, with its vibrant costumes and elaborate sets proving irresistible to Academy voters. While star Cynthia Erivo missed out on Best Actress for her portrayal of Elphaba, and Ariana Grande’s supporting performance as Glinda went unrewarded, the film’s technical excellence confirmed its status as a standout adaptation.

Animation provided one of the ceremony’s biggest surprises as Latvia’s Flow, a fantasy adventure about a cat surviving a flood, upset studio powerhouses to win Best Animated Feature. The victory came at the expense of heavily favored contenders including Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and Universal’s The Wild Robot. Meanwhile, Best International Feature went to Brazil’s I’m Still Here, marking the country’s first win in the category with its family drama set during the military dictatorship. The documentary category delivered another notable moment as the Palestinian-Israeli collective behind No Other Land won Best Documentary Feature for their examination of forced displacement in the West Bank.

While Anora dominated the ceremony with five total wins (including Best Actress for Mikey Madison), the acting categories provided several standout moments beyond Brody’s record-breaking speech. Kieran Culkin received Best Supporting Actor for A Real Pain, delivering a freewheeling acceptance speech that included an f-bomb and a humorous reminder to his wife about their agreement to have more children if he won an Oscar. Guardians of the Galaxy’s Zoe Saldaña claimed Best Supporting Actress for Emilia Pérez, emotionally noting that she is “the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award.” Unfortunately, Demi Moore got snubbed for her fan-favorite role in The Substance, keeping the Academy tradition of ignoring powerful horror performances.

Were you happy with this year’s Oscar results? Which movie do you wish got more recognition? Let us know in the comments!