Previous Oscar nominee Felicity Jones has arrived, as well as Barbie star Ariana Greenblatt and actor Bobby Cannavale.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Regan Morris
Reporting from Hollywood

I always walk Hollywood Boulevard on Oscars day. Sometimes there are protests. There are always tourists and fans craning their necks trying to catch a glimpse of stars arriving to the red carpet.

The street, which typically is filled with tourists taking pictures of the Walk of Fame, is closed down so stars can arrive in limos.

Tourists are still out waving at those limos and locals are packed into the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, just a few blocks away.

But this year, security is definitely more intense than usual.

Hollywood Boulevard is closed for blocks - as is usual. But this year the police presence is greater as the US-Israel war with Iran continues, with Los Angeles police cars and officers up and down the boulevard and surrounding side streets.

The Oscars looks so glamorous on TV that many people watching at home don't realise that the red carpet is actually on a street surrounded by tourist trinket shops selling t-shirts and plastic Oscar trophies.

The stars walk along the carpeted boulevard to the steps of the Dolby Theatre, which rises up through the centre of a shopping mall.

It doesn’t look like that on TV. It’s all part of the magic of Hollywood.

Image source, Getty Images

As the stars take the red carpet, the results of tonight's awards are making their own entrance.

Representatives with the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers - which has managed the award show's balloting process for decades - have arrived holding briefcases that contain the papers that list the Oscar winners.

Chase Infiniti stars in one of tonight's favourite films, Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another.

She is wearing a stunning pink halterneck dress with a ruffled full-length train.

Infiniti isn't nominated tonight but she'll be cheering on co-stars who are - including Leonardo DiCaprio - and is also on presenting duties.

Working on the film was "the ultimate masterclass", Infiniti says on the red carpet.

"It was the most perfect experience I could ever ask for," she says.

Meanwhile, ballet dancer Misty Copeland, who recently hit back at Timothee Chalamet over his comments about the art form, arrived in a dress slashed to the navel.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Scarlett Harris
Fashion critic

Rose Byrne is nominated for best actress for her role as a frazzled mum reaching breaking point in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Tonight, though, her legs are nowhere to be seen in custom Dior by Jonathan Anderson.

She's the first best actress nominee we've seen so far.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Alicia Silverstone goes for old-school glamour in a strapless black and white gown. She is flying the flag tonight for best picture nominee, Bugonia, which also stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons.

Bella Thorne donned a sheer number featuring feather sleeve detail and a criss-cross pattern.

Josh Groban kept it cool with a a classic tux.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Berry's theatrical, booming voice is being put to good use at this year's ceremony - as the announcer for the show, external.

He will be familiar to fans of vampire TV comedy What We Do In the Shadows, which is popular in both the UK and the US, based on the original New Zealand mockumentary film. Berry plays the pompous vampire Laszlo, one of the main characters.

He's also starred in other TV comedies including Toast of London and The IT Crowd, and he's voiced characters in films including The Minecraft Movie and The Wild Robot.

Vulture called the announcement a "truly earth-shattering revelation", calling Berry a "comedian, actor, musician, and vocal maestro", while fans on Twitter posted they would watch the show purely to hear his announcements.

More stars are arriving now, including nominated songwriter Diane Warren, TV host Mario Lopez, and actor Ken Jeong.

Take a look:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

We have quite the night ahead of us.

Here's a quick run-of-show for you:

The Oscars pre-show, including coverage of stars walking the red carpet, is under way - it started at about 12:30 PDT (19:30GMT).

It'll go for three and a half hours, with the biggest stars usually entering the building later.

The actual ceremony, hosted by Conan O'Brien, will begin at 16:00 PDT (23:00GMT).

A total of 23 awards will be presented over the course of the evening. Usually, the smaller categories come earlier, and the most-watched awards (like best actor and actress, best director and best picture), will come closer to the end.

There will also be musical performances throughout.

It's hard to tell when exactly the show will wrap up - some years these things go longer than expected - but the typical run time is around 3.5 hours.

Nardine Saad
at the Oscars

I caught up with singer-songwriter Ejae, songwriter Mark Sonnenblick and Blake Label's Ido - the minds behind the Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning phenomenon Golden from KPop Demon Hunters - at the Oscar nominees luncheon a few weeks ago and we chatted about the huge success of the film and its music.

Ejae, who provides the singing voice for Huntr/x's Rumi, told me that seeing kids around the world dress up as the demon-fighting pop stars for Halloween this year brought tears to her eyes.

It was a huge moment for Korean representation, she said.

"Growing up in the States, I dressed up as Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, and I didn't really dress up as a Korean woman. But now I see kids who are not just Korean, but from all races, dressing up as strong Korean women with their [Rumi] braids," she said. "I cried."

Scarlett Harris
Fashion critic

The Oscars red carpet is officially open.

Some influencers and celebrities are starting to trickle in, but most of the A-list stars and talent to be honoured at tonight's awards will arrive later, close to the main event - which is still more than three hours away.

Image source, Getty Images

Amelia Dimoldenberg, who returns to the Academy Awards as red carpet reporter and social media ambassador for the third year in a row, wears a sculptural black Ralph Lauren column down, Jimmy Choo shoes and Bvlgari jewelry.

The Chicken Shop Date star is evolving from interviewer to bona fide Hollywood player, with roles in Industry and the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada 2 and a rom-com based on her web show, which she’s producing and starring in. This might be the last year we see her on the red carpet as a reporter… maybe next year she’ll be a nominee.

Image source, Getty Images

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

Image source, Getty Images

This year casting directors are getting Oscars recognition for the first time, in a new category.

Cassandra Kulukundis is nominated for casting Leonardo Dicaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti and the rest of the stellar cast in political epic One Battle After Another.

How’s she feeling about being propelled into the limelight?

“Cinderella is at the ball,” is how she put it to me, adding: "This is insane. This is wild. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years. That hasn’t changed. Now all of a sudden people are interested in what I’m doing. It was overlooked before.”

She doesn’t plan to prepare a speech in advance, calling it “presumptuous”, saying if she does win “I might have a heart attack or I might start laughing and have a ball. I don’t know”.

But she says she will be “the first to be standing up applauding if it’s not me”.

Her game plan is simple. "Get on the best dress, be as comfortable as possible and hope you don’t trip on the way up."

Image source, AMPAS

There's no such thing as a free lunch, unless you're a Hollywood A-lister who's nominated for an Oscar.

Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone and Michael B Jordan were just a few of the stars who gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles last month for the Academy Award nominees' luncheon and "class photo".

The annual event is a chance for the stars to mingle with their fellow nominees in a relaxed setting, without the pressure of Oscars night on 15 March.

There are so many people in this photo that your eyes may not know where to look.

So we broke down the photo into some of its most memorable chunks.

See more here: 12 things we spotted in the Oscars class photo

Nardine Saad
at the Oscars

Image source, Getty Images

During a news conference this week, the producers of the Oscars noted the US-Israel war in Iran was top of mind when examining security.

"Of course, every year we monitor what's going on in the world," executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor says.

He reiterates that his team spends a lot of time and focus on "making sure that everybody comes in and gets home very safe" but also has a good time.

Kapoor credited the security teams installed by the Academy, Los Angeles police and the FBI, who have been in talks for months ahead of the glitzy ceremony.

"It's a close collaboration," Kapoor said. "This show has to run like clockwork, but we want everybody that is coming to this show that is witnessing the show, that is even a fan of the show, when they're standing outside the barricades, we want everybody to feel safe and protected and welcome."

He added that it's their job as the producing team "to make sure that that translates".

Kapoor said that safety is "something that we don't take lightly, and we take a lot of responsibility for [it]".

Jacqueline Coley, an awards editor for Rotten Tomatoes, who moderated the news conference added: "I can tell you it's impossible to move anywhere in here. Let me just say, love it, but I can't walk anywhere! [Security] is like, 'Where are you going?' Which is good. That makes you feel like the best side of it."

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Predicting who might win is obviously far from an exact science, not least this year, which has been quite an unpredictable awards season.

BBC Culture reporter Steven McIntosh took a dive into the list of nominees to see who might take home the golden statuette tonight... here's who to look out for:

Best picture

Political thriller One Battle After Another looks like a strong frontrunner, but don't discount the popularity of vampire horror Sinners.

One Battle has already taken the main prize at awards in the run-up to the Oscars, but Sinners, which now holds the record for the most Oscars nominations with 16, is still worth watching out for tonight.

Best actor

Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme) had some early momentum during awards season in the best actor race, and there have been some wins for Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent), but the frontrunner is Michael B Jordan, who recently won at the Actor Awards.

Best actress

This is the most clear-cut category, with Hamnet's Jessie Buckley looking almost certain to win.

Best supporting actor

One Battle After Another's Sean Penn looks like the one to beat, having won a couple of significant awards in the run-up to tonight. but he will face some sincere competition from Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) and Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value).Best supporting actress

This one has been hard to call - Amy Madigan, the star of Weapons, is seen as the main favourite in this category, but Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) is the only contender nominated at every major ceremony, and also won at the Golden Globes.

Don't discount British actress Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners) though; she took the prize on home soil at the Baftas, while Madigan won at the Critics Choice and Actor Awards.

It won't be long until we find out...

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

A year is a long time in the entertainment calendar, so you're forgiven for needing a refresher for 2025's ceremony.

Last year was all about Anora, Sean Baker's dark comedy about a woman working as a New York stripper, who falls for the hedonistic son of a Russian billionaire.

It swept the board, winning five Oscars including best picture, best director and best actress for Mikey Madison.

Adrien Brody took home his second best actor gong for The Brutalist, while Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin each won their first Oscar, for their best supporting acting roles in Emelia Pérez and A Real Pain.

Amid the acceptance speeches, the audience were serenaded by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande memorably belting out Wicked's anthem, Defying Gravity.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

US comedian, writer and host Conan O'Brien is back for a second year as host, after his first stint at the helm in 2025.

He's best known as the host of late-night US talk shows Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and Conan. He was also a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.

Last year O'Brien got pretty positive reviews, as Deadline said he "nails it", while Hollywood Reporter called him "fully capable" and Vanity Fair said he "brilliantly emceed" the show.

Referencing the record-breaking length of last year's best actor speech, external, O'Brien joked afterwards: “The only reason I’m hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech."

The Brutalist star managed to talk for five minutes and 40 seconds, rather than the allotted 45 seconds requested by the Academy.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

A couple of changes make this year's ceremony distinct.

It's the first time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts has made it a requirement for members to confirm they had watched all the films, external nominated in a category.

As Variety recently pointed out, the academy can monitor viewing activity through its members-only Academy Screening Room streaming platform. Only when the films had been watched were members allowed to vote in the final round.

It's also the debut of the casting category. This recognises the crucial work of casting directors, who have to try to find the right actors with the best chemistry, who will then resonate with the audience.

We have to wait until 2028 for another new category - for best stunt design.

Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the biggest night in Hollywood - the 98th Academy Awards!

Stars are preparing to walk the red carpet in Los Angeles as celebrity nominees and average film audiences alike wait to find out who will take home the evening's most coveted prizes.

We'll be watching as the makers of Sinners finds out how many of their film's record-breaking 16 nominations result in a win, as Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael B Jordan duke it out for that best actor award and as host Conan O'Brien narrates it all.

Our BBC colleagues backstage in Hollywood and BBC culture reporters around the world will be your Oscars eyes and ears, and you can follow along on this page to track when your favourite stars arrive on the red carpet and to stay updated on all the performances and winners of the evening.

Grab a snack - red carpet coverage starts at approximately 12:30 PDT (19:30GMT) - and the main show is set to start at 16:00 PDT (23:00GMT).

Stay with us!