Oscars quiz questions: Academy Award trivia

The Academy Awards have been running since 1929, which means there's nearly a century of trivia to draw from. Whether you're putting together a film round for pub quiz night or hosting an Oscars watch party, these questions cover the records, the scandals, and the little details that make the ceremony so watchable.

Most of these are designed to be answerable by anyone who's paid even casual attention to the Oscars over the years. A few will make your teams think harder.

The questions

1Three films share the record for the most Academy Award wins, each taking home 11 Oscars. Ben-Hur and Titanic are two of them. What's the third?

Answer:The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(click to reveal)

Peter Jackson's 2003 epic won every single category it was nominated in, going 11 for 11. That's a feat no other Best Picture winner has matched. Wikipedia has the full list of records.

2Which person holds the record for the most Oscar wins of all time, with 26 awards?

Answer:Walt Disney(click to reveal)

He won 22 competitive awards and 4 honorary ones across his career. That record has stood since his death in 1966 and nobody's come close to breaking it. Britannica covers his remarkable awards history.

3Only three films have won the "Big Five" Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. It Happened One Night (1934) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) are two. What's the third?

Answer:One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)(click to reveal)

Directed by Milos Forman and starring Jack Nicholson, it swept all five major categories in a single ceremony. The achievement is so rare that only these three films have managed it in nearly a century of awards. Dozens of films have won four of the five, but that last one always seems to slip away.

4Since 1950, Oscar winners have been bound by a rule that prevents them from selling their statuette on the open market. What must they do first if they want to part with it?

Answer:Offer it back to the Academy for $1(click to reveal)

The rule was introduced to stop statuettes becoming collectors' items. Pre-1950 Oscars aren't covered by the agreement, which is why older ones occasionally show up at auction for huge sums. Steven Spielberg has bought two vintage Oscars at auction and donated them both back to the Academy.

5Since 2002, the Oscars have been held at the same venue on Hollywood Boulevard. What's it called?

Answer:The Dolby Theatre(click to reveal)

It opened in 2001 and was originally known as the Kodak Theatre until 2012, when Dolby Laboratories took over the naming rights. Before this venue, the ceremony bounced between different locations around Los Angeles. You can read the theatre's history on Wikipedia.

6At the 2017 ceremony, the wrong film was announced as Best Picture winner. Which two films were involved in the mix-up?

Answer:La La Land and Moonlight(click to reveal)

Presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were accidentally given the envelope for Best Actress instead of Best Picture. La La Land's producers were already onstage giving speeches before the mistake was corrected. The actual winner was Moonlight. TIME covered how the blunder unfolded.

7Which legendary director was nominated five times for Best Director but never won a competitive Oscar? His films include Rear Window, Psycho, and Vertigo.

Answer:Alfred Hitchcock(click to reveal)

He received nominations for Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window, and Psycho, but lost every time. The Academy gave him the honorary Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968. It's one of the most talked-about snubs in Oscar history. His full nominations are listed on Wikipedia.

8The Godfather Part II, released in 1974, holds a particular distinction in Oscar history. What was it?

Answer:It was the first sequel to win Best Picture(click to reveal)

The original Godfather had won Best Picture two years earlier, making them the first franchise to produce two Best Picture winners. It took nearly 30 years for another sequel to match the feat: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.

9What does the acronym EGOT stand for, and what does it mean when someone "achieves" one?

Answer:Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony(click to reveal)

It means a person has won all four major American entertainment awards. Richard Rodgers was the first to complete the set in 1962. The term itself was coined by actor Philip Michael Thomas of Miami Vice fame in 1984. Britannica has a complete list of EGOT winners.

10At the 2022 Oscars, which actor walked onstage and slapped presenter Chris Rock during the live broadcast?

Answer:Will Smith(click to reveal)

Rock had made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, which is the result of alopecia. Smith went on to win Best Actor later that evening for King Richard but was subsequently banned from attending Academy events for 10 years. The BBC reported on the incident and its aftermath.

11Which film won Best Picture at the most recent ceremony in March 2025, becoming director Sean Baker's breakthrough hit?

Answer:Anora(click to reveal)

It won five awards at the 97th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. The ceremony was hosted by Conan O'Brien in his first turn as host. NPR published the complete winners list.

12The 98th Academy Awards take place on 15 March 2026. Who's hosting for the second year running?

Answer:Conan O'Brien(click to reveal)

After his well-received debut hosting the 2025 ceremony, the former late-night host was invited back. The 2026 ceremony will also be notable for introducing Best Casting as a new competitive category, bringing the total to 24. The Academy has details on the upcoming ceremony.

---

Those twelve questions give you a solid Oscars round that mixes history, records, and recent events. If you're running this as part of a bigger quiz, they pair nicely with a general film round or a picture round using movie stills.