Cinema fans, actors and filmmakers alike have been hungry for a stunt performance Oscar category for a long time now. Sure, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors stunt-heavy movies in categories like Best Production Design or Best Visual Effects, but that’s not the same — the planning and execution of a good movie stunt is an art, and sometimes entire movies hinge on their stunt sequences, whether it be a sci-fi epic or a grounded spy thriller. Luckily the Academy has come to its senses, announcing that an Achievement in Stunt Design award will be added for the 100th Academy Awards in 2028. This means cars can finally win Oscars!
Because while cars are obviously the stars of movies quite often, they aren’t exactly acting, even if the car talks in the movie. So sadly a car can’t win Best Actress, no matter how good that Fury was in “Christine.” With the onset of this stunt category, though, a car can take home the award! Cars are always doing stunts in movies, and they deserve to be recognized for them. Sure, I guess you could say there is a person inside of the car who is driving it to do the stunt, but still, it would be the car that wins the award, right?
Cars won’t actually win, but the drivers will
Okay, so that’s definitely not gonna be how this works, but we will certainly see car-heavy movies get nominated in this category. In recent years there have been some absolutely phenomenal car action scenes in movies — the Paris chase scenes in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” and “John Wick: Chapter 4” come to mind immediately, plus “Furiosa,” “Atomic Blonde,” basically every James Bond and Fast & Furious movie… I could go on. That sentiment extends to vehicles in general, actually, and here at Jalopnik we love all sorts of vehicles. The Academy should retroactively give this award to “Top Gun: Maverick.” Of course, there are tons of types of stunts that have nothing to do with cars or other forms of transportation, and those are all valid. But it is genuinely very exciting that there is an Oscars category that could directly highlight car chases and all sorts of other vehicular stunts.
The Academy’s statement says the stunt design category will be for movies released in 2027, and “category rules for eligibility and voting” will be announced that year along with all the other rules and regulations. I wonder if the award will go to the stunt coordinators, the performers, or as I’m hoping, both — it would be pretty awesome to see Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves win an Oscar for driving. The statement also mentions how over 100 stunt professionals are part of the Academy’s Production and Technology Branch, and includes Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang saying, “since the early days of cinema, stunt design has been an integral part of filmmaking. 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.”