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Welcome back, film fans! Vulture’s Movies Fantasy League is back for a bigger-than-ever fifth season. Are you a box-office oracle? Festival-circuit seer-sayer? Oscar-ballot savant? Time to flex those skills in pursuit of pride and prizes. Read on for details on how to play, rules, and an explanation of changes for this season.
Once the season is underway, this hub will be where you can check your score and see where you rank among the other players, Vulture writers and editors, and movie and culture creators that will be participating. Here are key dates leading up to the season kickoff:
➼ Today: The draft is open.
➼ Tuesday, September 2: Joe Reid’s official draft guide becomes available.
➼ Thursday, September 25: Last day to draft from the complete list of movies. You can find more details about registration deadlines below.
➼ Thursday, December 18: Final draft deadline for the season.
If you don’t want to miss any important dates, sign up below for a reminder to register before the draft closes:
The Basics
➼ The first step is to draft a team of eight eligible movies released in 2025 using a budget of 100 fake dollars. Each movie has been assigned a value based on its points-earning potential.
➼ New for This Season: In past years, we closed registration when the season started: If you didn’t sign up by that date, you couldn’t play. This year, we’re extending registration through December — with a catch: If you draft by September 25, you’ll be able to pick from the full list of eligible movies. Wait longer, and you’ll be limited to only films that haven’t yet started accruing points (i.e. you can only draft unreleased movies that haven’t been nominated for any awards.)
➼ Starting on September 26, you’ll accrue points based on the box-office performance, awards haul, and critical reception of the movies you picked. Each week starting Monday, September 29, the updated leaderboard will be available on this page and in the weekly MFL newsletter.
➼ The teams that earn the most points when the game ends after the 2026 Oscars will win one or more of the great prizes below.
➼ If you want to compete against your friends, family, or co-workers, you can create a mini-league. Alternatively, you can join a mini-league associated with your favorite creator. You’ll find more details on that below.
➼ There’s a limit of one entry per email address. You can’t modify your team once it has been submitted, even if a movie you picked gets rescheduled to next year.
See the complete Official Rules. Questions? Need help? You can email us at moviesleague@vulture.com.
Mini-Leagues
The Creators Division: Dozens of our favorite culture-podcast hosts and producers, Substackers, and newsletter writers are competing in a subset of the MFL. When the leaderboard is live, you’ll be able to filter to see how the various creators are faring against each other. At the end of the season, the winner will receive an ostentatious championship belt, because why not?
Mini-Leagues: You can play against a set of friends in a mini-league. Have everyone in your crew enter the same league name on the ballot when you each register, and then you’ll be able to filter the standings to see how everyone in your group is doing. There will also be mini-leagues associated with most of the participants in the Creators Division; stay tuned for more info on those groups. You can only participate in one mini-league, so that may mean choosing between your friends and your favorite creator.
Prizes
Oh, look, it’s an array of fantastic prizes. Here’s what’s up for grabs:
Grand Prizes (1st–3rd Place)
The overall winner gets to select one of the following devices:
➼ 70” Pioneer Roku 4K TV
➼ Xbox Series X
➼ Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 Noise-Canceling Headphones
The second-place finisher gets to choose between the remaining two, and third place will get the final item. You can’t go wrong.
Criterion Channel Subscription (1st–10th Place)
Everyone that finishes in the top ten will be rewarded for their efforts with a yearlong subscription to the Criterion Channel’s streaming library, otherwise known as Ben Affleck’s idea of heaven.
Pick Your Players
Registration is now open for the 2025–26 season. Once you’ve done your research, you can select your team by clicking the ostentatiously colored button below. Select your team before September 25, and you’ll get the choice of any eligible movie that has been or will be released in 2025. After that date, you’ll be limited only to films that haven’t started accruing points. (Again, that means you’ll only be able to draft unreleased movies that haven’t been nominated for any awards.) Sign-ups will close for the season on December 18.
DRAFT YOUR TEAM
Not ready to draft yet? Sign up here for a reminder to build your team before the window closes.
Scoring Categories
Once your roster is selected, you will earn points in three categories:
1. Domestic Box-Office Performance
Movies will only be eligible for box-office points if they are released on or after September 26 (once the scoring window begins). Points will be awarded in the following manner (based on Box Office Mojo):
Every $1 million earned: 1 point
Clears $25 million: 10-point bonus
Clears $50 million: 15-point bonus
Clears $75 million: 15-point bonus
Clears $100 million: 20-point bonus
Clears $125 million: 15-point bonus
Clears $150 million: 15-point bonus
Clears $175 million: 15-point bonus
Clears $200 million: 25-point bonus
Reaches No. 1 at the domestic box office: 20 points per week spent at No. 1
2. Critical Performance
Points will be awarded in the following manner (based on the Metacritic “Metascore”):
0-19: -5 points
20-39: 0 points
40-49: 10 points
50-59: 20 points
60-69: 25 points
70-79: 40 points
80-89: 50 points
90-100: 100 points
Metacritic points will be awarded all at once on January 6 and will not be adjusted based on subsequent score fluctuations. Only movies that have been released and have a Metascore score at the time of scoring are eligible for Critical Performance points.
3. Awards
Points will be awarded for both awards nominations and wins. See the calendar below for points associated with each event.
Click Here for Awards Calendar and Categories
Gotham Awards Nominations
October 28, 2025
Nomination in the following categories: 10 points
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Breakthrough Director
➼ Breakthrough Performer
➼ Documentary Feature
➼ International Feature
Nomination in the following categories: 15 points
➼ Best Feature
➼ Best Director
➼ Outstanding Lead Performance
➼ Outstanding Supporting Performance
—
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards Nominations
TBA
Nomination for Best Movie for Grown-ups: 10 points
Nomination in any other category: 5 points
—
Gotham Awards
December 1, 2025
Win in the following categories: 15 points
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Breakthrough Director
➼ Breakthrough Performer
➼ Documentary Feature
➼ International Feature
➼ Special Category (e.g., Ensemble)
Win in the following categories: 25 points
➼ Best Feature
➼ Best Director
➼ Outstanding Lead Performance
➼ Outstanding Supporting Performance
—
Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations
TBA
Nomination in the following categories: 5 points
➼ First Feature
➼ First Screenplay
➼ Documentary Feature
➼ International Feature
➼ Cinematography
➼ Editing
➼ John Cassavetes Award
Nomination in the following categories: 15 points
➼ Best Feature
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Lead Performance
➼ Best Supporting Performance
➼ Best Breakthrough Performance
➼ Best Screenplay
—
Critics’ Choice Awards Nominations
December 5, 2025
Nomination in the following categories: 15 points
➼ Best Picture
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Original Screenplay
➼ Best Adapted Screenplay
Nomination in the following categories: 5 points
➼ Young Actor/Actress
➼ Acting Ensemble
➼ Cinematography
➼ Editing
➼ Costume Design
➼ Production Design
➼ Score
➼ Song
➼ Hair/Makeup
➼ Visual Effects
➼ Animated Feature
➼ Comedy Feature
➼ Foreign-Language Film
—
Golden Globe Awards Nominations
December 8, 2025
Nomination for Best Picture (Drama, Musical/Comedy): 20 points
Nomination in the following categories: 15 points
➼ Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor, Drama
➼ Best Actress, Drama
➼ Best Actor, Musical/Comedy
➼ Best Actress, Musical/Comedy
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Best Foreign Film
➼ Best Animated Feature
➼ Best Score
➼ Best Song
—
Oscar Shortlists
December 16, 2025
Placement on any Oscar shortlist: 5 points
—
Critics’ Choice Awards
January 4, 2026
Win in the following categories: 25 points
➼ Best Picture
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Original Screenplay
➼ Best Adapted Screenplay
Nomination in the following categories: 5 points
➼ Young Actor/Actress
➼ Acting Ensemble
➼ Cinematography
➼ Editing
➼ Costume Design
➼ Production Design
➼ Score
➼ Song
➼ Hair/Makeup
➼ Visual Effects
➼ Animated Feature
➼ Comedy Feature
➼ Foreign-Language Film
—
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
January 6, 2026
Win for Best Film: 20 points
Win in the following categories: 10 points
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Supporting Actress
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Best Animated Film
➼ Best Cinematography
➼ Best Nonfiction Film
➼ Best Foreign-Language Film
➼ Best First Film
—
Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominations
January 7, 2025
Nomination in Best Ensemble Cast: 25 points
Nomination in the following categories: 20 points
➼ Best Male Actor
➼ Best Female Actor
➼ Best Supporting Male Actor
➼ Best Supporting Female Actor
Nomination in any other category: 5 points
—
Directors Guild Awards Nominations
January 8, 2026
Nomination in any category: 15 points
—
Producers Guild Awards Nominations
January 9, 2026 (Documentary nominations December 9, 2025)
Nomination in any category: 15 points
—
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
TBA
Win for Best Film: 20 points
Win in the following categories: 10 points
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Lead Performance
➼ Best Supporting Performance
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Best Animated Feature
➼ Breakthrough Performance
➼ Best Directorial Debut
➼ Best Foreign-Language Film
➼ Best Documentary
➼ Best Ensemble
➼ Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
—
National Society of Film Critics Awards
TBA
Win for Best Picture: 20 points
Win in the following categories: 10 points
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Best Cinematography
—
Golden Globe Awards
January 11, 2026
Win in Best Picture: 35 points
Win in the following categories: 25 points
➼ Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor, Drama
➼ Best Actress, Drama
➼ Best Actor, Musical/Comedy
➼ Best Actress, Musical/Comedy
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Best Foreign Film
➼ Best Animated Feature
➼ Best Score
➼ Best Song
—
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards
TBA
Win for Best Movie for Grownups: 20 points
Win in any other category: 10 points
—
BAFTA Awards Nominations
TBA
Nomination in the following categories: 20 points
➼ Best Picture
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Original Screenplay
➼ Best Adapted Screenplay
Nomination in the following categories: 10 points
➼ British Film
➼ British Debut
➼ Animated Film
➼ Documentary Film
➼ Film Not in the English Language
➼ Casting
➼ Children’s and Family Film
➼ Cinematography
➼ Editing
➼ Costume Design
➼ Production Design
➼ Original Score
➼ Hair/Makeup
➼ Special Visual Effects
➼ Sound
—
National Board of Review Awards
January 13, 2026
Win for Best Film: 20 points
Earn a spot on the Top 10 Best Films List: 15 points
Win in the following categories: 10 points
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Acting by an Ensemble
➼ Breakthrough Performance
➼ Best Screenplay
➼ Best Cinematography
➼ Best Stunt Artistry
➼ Best Editing
➼ Best Production Design
➼ Best Music Score
➼ Best International Film
➼ Spotlight Award
➼ Best Documentary/Nonfiction Film
➼ Best Animation
➼ Top 5 Foreign Films
➼ Best Directorial Debut
➼ Top 5 Documentaries
➼ Top 10 Independent Films
➼ NBR Freedom of Expression
—
Oscar Nominations
January 22, 2026
Nomination in Best Picture: 50 points
Nomination in the following categories: 25 points
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Original Screenplay
➼ Best Adapted Screenplay
➼ Best Animated Feature
➼ Best Documentary Feature
➼ Best International Feature
Nomination in the following categories: 15 points
➼ Best Cinematography
➼ Best Costume Design
➼ Best Production Design
➼ Best Hair/Makeup
➼ Best Sound
➼ Best Visual Effects
➼ Best Film Editing
➼ Best Original Song
➼ Best Original Score
➼ Best Casting
—
Writers Guild Awards Nominations
January 27, 2026
Nomination in any category: 10 points
—
Directors Guild Awards
February 7, 2026
Win in any category: 30 points
—
Film Independent Spirit Awards
February 15, 2026
Win in the following categories: 25 points
➼ Best Feature
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Lead Performance
➼ Best Supporting Performance
➼ Best Breakthrough Performance
➼ Best Screenplay
Win in the following categories: 10 points
➼ First Feature
➼ First Screenplay
➼ Documentary Feature
➼ International Feature
➼ Cinematography
➼ Editing
➼ John Cassavetes Award
➼ Robert Altman Award
—
BAFTA Awards
February 26, 2026
Win in the following categories: 35 points
➼ Best Picture
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Original Screenplay
➼ Best Adapted Screenplay
Win in the following categories: 20 points
➼ British Film
➼ British Debut
➼ Animated Film
➼ Documentary Film
➼ Film Not in the English Language
➼ Casting
➼ Cinematography
➼ Editing
➼ Costume Design
➼ Production Design
➼ Original Score
➼ Hair/Makeup
➼ Special Visual Effects
➼ Sound
—
Producers Guild Awards
February 28, 2026
Win in any category: 30 points
—
Screen Actors Guild Awards
March 1, 2026
Win in Best Ensemble Cast: 50 points
Win in the following categories: 35 points
➼ Best Male Actor
➼ Best Female Actor
➼ Best Supporting Male Actor
➼ Best Supporting Female Actor
Win in any other category: 10 points
—
Writers Guild Awards
March 8, 2026
Win in any category: 20 points
—
The Oscars
March 15, 2026
Win in Best Picture: 100 points
Win in the following categories: 75 points
➼ Best Director
➼ Best Actor
➼ Best Actress
➼ Best Supporting Actor
➼ Best Supporting Actress
➼ Best Original Screenplay
➼ Best Adapted Screenplay
➼ Best Animated Feature
➼ Best Documentary Feature
➼ Best International Feature
Win in the following categories: 50 points
➼ Best Cinematography
➼ Best Costume Design
➼ Best Production Design
➼ Best Hair/Makeup
➼ Best Sound
➼ Best Visual Effects
➼ Best Film Editing
➼ Best Original Song
➼ Best Original Score
➼ Best Casting