The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects. Producer David O. Selznick, then production head at RKO Studios, petitioned the Academy Board of Governors to recognize the work of animator Willis O'Brien for his groundbreaking work on 1933's King Kong.
It was not until 1938 when a film was actually recognized for its effects work, when a "Special Achievement Award for Special Effects" was given to the Paramount film Spawn of the North. The following year, "Best Special Effects" became a recognized category, although on occasion the Academy has chosen to honor a single film outright rather than nominate two or more films. From 1939 to 1963, it was an award for a film's visual effects as well as audio effects, so it was often given to two persons, although some years only one or the other type of effect was recognized. In 1964, it was given only for visual effects, and the following year the name of the category was changed to "Best Special Visual Effects".
Honorees for this award have been bestowed several times as a Special Achievement Academy Award. In 1977, the category was given its current name "Best Visual Effects." For decades, shortlisted finalists were selected by a steering committee. They are presently chosen by the visual effects branch executive committee. 1990 was the last year there were no official nominees. Back to the Future Part III, Dick Tracy, Ghost and Total Recall advanced to a second stage of voting, but only Total Recall received a requisite average and it was given a special achievement Oscar.
Notable years[]
The one highlighted in bold is the winner.
| Year | Film | Nominees |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Godzilla Minus One | Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima |
| The Creator | Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould | |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek | |
| Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould | |
| Songs of Power | David Arbiter, Samuel Kyber, Ken McGaugh and Jeff White | |
| 2024 | Dune: Part Two | Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer |
| Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes | Erik Winquist, Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett and Joel Whist | |
| Mufasa: The Lion King | Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman | |
| Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga | Andrew Jackson, Josh Simmonds, Guido Wolter and Andy Williams | |
| Songs of Salvation | David Arbiter, Samuel Kyber, Ken McGaugh and Jeff White | |
| 2025 | Avatar: Fire and Ash | Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett |
| Superman | Stephane Ceretti, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver | |
| The Fantastic Four | Tara DeMarco, Erik Schneider, Steve Moncur and Dan Sudick | |
| Alita: Ascending Angel | Eric Saindon, Richard E. Hollander, Richard Baneham and Bob Trevino | |
| Sharknado | Scott Farrar, Richard R. Hoover, Patrick McClung, and John Frazier | |
| 2026 | The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum | Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon and Steve Ingram |
| Avengers: Doomsday | Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Jeff White and Dan Sudick | |
| The Batman – Part II | Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands, Joe Letteri and Dominic Tuohy | |
| Justice for the End of the World | Volker Engel, Matt Aitken, Bryan Grill and Jay Cooper | |
| Dune: Messiah | Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Richard R. Hoover and Gerd Nefzer | |
| 2027 | Godzilla Plus Two | Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima |
| Avengers: Secret Wars | Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Jeff White and Dan Sudick | |
| Top Gun: Maverick and Rooster | Seth Hill, Jonathan Fawkner, Alex Wuttke and Scott R. Fisher | |
| Star Wars: A New Jedi Order | John Knoll, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy | |
| Fall of the Planet of the Apes | Erik Winquist, Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett and Joel Whist | |
| 2028 | The Lord of the Rings: Journey Through Middle-Earth | Andrew R. Jones, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon and Steve Ingram |
| Ultraman | Kevin McIlwain, Vincent Papaix, Guy Williams and Dave Shirk | |
| Armor Wars | Christopher Townsend, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick | |
| Godzilla x Kong: Monster Apocalypse | Ryan Cook, R. Christopher White, Sean Konrad and Mike Meinardus | |
| The Mysterians from Space | John Nelson, Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow and Dan Sudick | |
| 2029 | Avatar: The Tulkun Rider | Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett |
| Godzilla: Terror of Mechagodzilla | John Knoll, Scott Farrar, Jay Barton and Neil Corbould | |
| Yamata no Orochi: The Eight-Headed Dragon | Jim Rygiel, Dan Lemmon, Robert Winter and Justin Mitchell | |
| The Batman – Part III | Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands, Joe Letteri and Dominic Tuohy | |
| Godzilla in the Wasteland: A Mad Max Legend | Andrew Jackson, Josh Simmonds, Guillaume Rocheron and Andy Williams | |
| 2030 | Top Gun: Godzilla S.O.S. | Atsuki Sato, Katsuro Onoue, Seth Hill and Shinji Higuchi |
| Legacy of the Planet of the Apes | Erik Winquist, Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett and Joel Whist | |
| Blood Moon: Justice for the World | Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Mike Vézina and Josh Jaggars | |
| Gamera the Invincible | John Knoll, Peter Chiang, Julius Lechner and Michael Meinardus | |
| Fantastic Four: Reckoning War | Tara DeMarco, Nick Epstein, Steve Moncur and Dan Sudick | |
| 2031 | Avatar: The Quest for Eywa | Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett |
| Children of Dune | Paul Lambert, Brian Connor, John Nelson and Gerd Nefzer | |
| Godzilla: The Power of Three | Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima | |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 – A New Beginning | Stephane Ceretti, Christopher Townsend, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick | |
| The Gorath Star | Scott Farrar, Richard R. Hoover, Russell Earl and John Frazier | |
| 2032 | War for Justice Across Worlds | Volker Engel, Neil Corbould, Mike Chambers and Remo Balcells |
| Bye-Bye Jupiter | Andrew Jackson, Paul J. Franklin, Andrew Lockley and Scott R. Fisher | |
| Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 | Scott Stokdyk, Peter Nofz, Kelly Port and Spencer Cook | |
| Gamera the Incredible | John Knoll, Colin Strause, Richard R. Hoover and Rocco Larizza | |
| Planet Hulk | Kurt Williams, Sheldon Stopsack, Bryan Hirota and Mark Hawker | |
| 2033 | 2001-9-11 | John "DJ" DesJardin, Joe Letteri, Bryan Hirota and Allen Hall |
| Clash of the Gargantuas | Ken McGaugh, Nick Epstein, Richard Clegg and Eric Frazier | |
| Ultraman: The Underground Monument | V. Srinivas Mohan, Roger Guyett, Matthew E. Butler and Dan Sudick | |
| Godzilla of Dune | Paul Lambert, Robert Winter, Bryan Grill and Gerd Nefzer | |
| Godzilla: Return of the King | Alex Wuttke, Dan Lemmon, Guillaume Rocheron and Chris Corbould | |
| 2034 | King Kong in the Planet of the Apes | Erik Winquist, Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum and Joel Whist |
| Godzilla: Synthetic Division | Kiyoko Shibuya, Sho Funabashi, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima | |
| Mad Max in the Wasteland | Andrew Jackson, Giacomo Mineo, Andrew Lockley and Lloyd Finnemore | |
| Gamera the Indestructible | John Knoll, Brian Connor, Daryl Sawchuk and Eric Frazier | |
| TBA | ||
| 2035 | A View from Orbit | Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Tristan Myles and J. D. Schwalm |
| Ultraman: Armed Resurgence | John "DJ" DesJardin, Tom Proctor, Keith Miller and Michael Meinardus | |
| God Emperor of Dune | Paul Lambert, Brian Connor, Richard R. Hoover and Gerd Nefzer | |
| Monster Planet: A Star Wars Story | Takashi Yamazaki, Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy | |
| Godzilla x Kong: Destroy All Monsters | Nick Davis, Daryl Sawchuk, Andrew Whitehurst and Julius Lechner | |
| 2036 | Justice for the World: Brothers in Arms | Bill Westenhofer, Colin Strause, Ben Morris and R. Christopher White |
| Rogue Squadron: A Star Wars Story | Ben Morris, Alex Wuttke, John Nelson and Dan Sudick | |
| Godzilla x Kong: Operation Final War | Nick Davis, Daryl Sawchuk, Andrew Whitehurst and Julius Lechner | |
| Return of the Planet of the Apes | Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Dominic Tuohy | |
| Avengers: The Marvelous Reassemble | Janek Sirrs, Sheldon Stopsack, Jeff White and Dan Sudick | |
| 2037 | Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind | Peter G. Travers, Stephane Paris, Richard Stammers and Guillaume Murray |
| Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi | Ben Morris, Alex Wuttke, Neal Scanlan and Dan Sudick | |
| League of Injustice | Andrew Jackson, Jonathan Fawkner, Jeff White and Dan Sudick | |
| Foodlosslla | Jay Cooper, Hal Hickel, Takashi Yamazaki and Neil Corbould | |
| The World Serpent | Marcus Taormina, Bryan Litson, Ken McGaugh and Michael Gaspar | |
| 2038 | Godzilla: BCE | Dan Lemmon, Lindsay McFarlane, Peter Chiang and Eric Frazier |
| Justice for the World: End of Times | Ryan Tudhope, Jeff Sutherland, Eric Saindon and Scott R. Fisher | |
| Avengers: Axis Point | Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Paul J. Franklin and Dan Sudick | |
| Gotengo: The Undersea Warship | Robert Legato, Joe Letteri, R. Christopher White and Paul Corbould | |
| Ultraman: The Kingdom of Hell | Stephane Ceretti, Jay Cooper, Florian Gellinger and Dan Sudick | |
| 2039 | Justice for the World: The Final Fate | Ryan Tudhope, Jeff Sutherland, Eric Saindon and Scott R. Fisher |
| TBA | ||
| The Abyss: Challenger Deep | Richard Bluff, David Seager, John Knoll and Scott R. Fisher | |
| Clash of the Planet of the Apes | Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands and Erik Winquist | |
| Titan Footage Not Found | Janelle Croshaw, Jason Smith, Farhad Mohasseb and Gerd Nefzer | |
| 2040 | Gone with the Wind | Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips |
| Who Discovered Roger Rabbit | Grady Cofer, Aleksandar Pejic, Vincent Cirelli and Raymond Pang | |
| Justice League: Apokolips War | John "DJ" DesJardin, Bryan Hirota, Anders Langlands and Mark Holt | |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | Peter Chiang, Pete Bebb, Ryan Tudhope and Michael Meinardus | |
| TBA | ||
| 2041 | The Wither Storm | Jens Bergensten, Markus Toivonen, Jasper Boerstra and Kris Zetterstrand |
| Lethal Company | Simon Jung, Andrew R. Jones, Stephen James and Joel Whist | |
| Monster War on Planet X | Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence, and Steven Warner | |
| Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato | Takashi Yamazaki, Eric Saindon, Nick Epstein and Kiyoko Shibuya | |
| The Leyte Gulf Theater | Pete Bebb, Ian Hunter, Andrew Lockley and Guillaume Murray | |
| 2042 | Blade Runner 2119 | Paul Lambert, Ben Snow, Richard R. Hoover and Gerd Nefzer |
| Finale of the Planet of the Apes | Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist and Joel Whist | |
| Six Days of War | Guillaume Rocheron, Jeremy Robert, Sreejith Venugopalan and Scott R. Fisher | |
| Godzilla: Project Nemesis | Canon Gojo, Minami Tsujino, Takuya Uenishi and Yuichi Kikuchi | |
| Justice: The Alien Hammer | Kevin McIlwain, Peter Chiang, Moritz Bock and Gabor Kiszelly | |
| 2043 | The Beast from a Thousand Fathoms | Pablo Helman, Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould |
| Grand Theft Auto | Richard R. Hoover, Nicholas Brooks, Pat McClung and Allen Hall | |
| Planet X: Part One – Gods of Destruction | Marcus Taormina, Bryan Litson, Richard R. Hoover and Michael Gaspar | |
| Tuskegee Airmen | François Lambert, Seth Hill, Edson Williams and Roy K. Cancino | |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion II | Peter Chiang, Pete Bebb, Ryan Tudhope and Michael Meinardus | |
| 2044 | Solar Storm | Allen Maris, Jedediah Smith, Guillaume Rocheron and Scott R. Fisher |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion III | Peter Chiang, Pete Bebb, Ryan Tudhope and Michael Meinardus | |
| Battle of the Bulge | Christopher Townsend, Charlie Noble, Edson Williams and Paul Corbould | |
| World War Z: The Battle of Yonkers | Andrew R. Jones, Jessica Norman, Matt Johnson and Neil Corbould | |
| TBA | ||
| 2045 | Justice for Love: The End of the World | Tim Burke, Jerome Chen, Andrew Jackson and Scott R. Fisher |
| TBA | ||
| TBA | ||
| TBA | ||
| TBA | ||
| 2046 | TBA | |
| Justice for Love: Chapter Zero | Jerome Chen, Sue Rowe, Scott Stokdyk and Steve Ingram | |
| TBA | ||
| TBA | ||
| TBA | ||
| 2047 | TBA | |
| Kongzilla | Alessandro Ongaro, Kevin Andrew Smith, Bryan Hirota and Mike Meinardus | |
| The Hindenburg Disaster | Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton | |
| TBA | ||
| TBA |