For nearly a quarter century, the Oscars have unfolded on Hollywood Boulevard, steps from the Walk of Fame and the handprints at TCL Chinese Theatre. That ends in 2029.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that the ceremony will relocate to L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles, leaving the Dolby Theatre after more than two decades. The new 10-year partnership with AEG, the entertainment conglomerate that owns the L.A. Live complex, runs through 2039.

The move carries obvious symbolism: Hollywood’s signature night will no longer take place in Hollywood. But it also represents a practical shift. The Peacock Theater at L.A. Live seats 7,100 people — more than double the Dolby’s 3,400 — and the campus-style complex allows the Academy to keep the red carpet, ceremony, press operations, and afterparties within one controlled footprint. At the Dolby, security logistics have grown increasingly complex; this year’s ceremony required a one-mile police buffer around the venue.

In another sense, the move is less a departure than a return. Before settling into the Dolby (originally the Kodak Theatre) in 2002, the Oscars were held for years at downtown venues including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Shrine Auditorium.

The 2029 ceremony will also mark another break from tradition: it will be the first Oscars streamed live on YouTube worldwide, ending a 50-year run on ABC broadcast television. The Academy has been rethinking its approach as audiences have declined from more than 40 million viewers in the late 1990s to 17.9 million this year.

AEG plans significant upgrades to the Peacock Theater’s stage, sound, and lighting systems before the Oscars arrive — and the venue may have a new name by then, with naming rights expiring in 2028.

The Dolby will host its final Oscars in 2028, the Academy’s 100th ceremony.

Sources