The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Joe Roth and was directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted for the eighth time. He first presided over the 62nd ceremony held in 1990 and had last hosted the 72nd ceremony held in 2000. Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at The Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, California held on February 14, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Jennifer Garner.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won a record-tying eleven awards including Best Director for Peter Jackson and Best Picture. Other winners included Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Mystic River with two awards and The Barbarian Invasions, Chernobyl Heart, Cold Mountain, Finding Nemo, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, Harvie Krumpet, Lost in Translation, Monster, and Two Soldiers with one. The telecast garnered nearly 44 million viewers in the United States, making it the most-watched telecast in four years.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 76th Academy Awards were announced on January 27, 2004, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Frank Pierson, president of the Academy, and the actress Sigourney Weaver. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received the most nominations with eleven; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World came in second with ten.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 29, 2004. With eleven awards, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic as the most awarded films in Oscar history. Moreover, its clean sweep of its eleven nominations surpassed Gigi and The Last Emperors nine awards for the largest sweep for a single film in Oscar history. The film was also the tenth film to win Best Picture without any acting nominations. Best Director nominee Sofia Coppola became the first American woman and third woman overall to be nominated in that category. By virtue of her father, Francis Ford Coppola and her grandfather, Carmine's previous wins, her victory in the Original Screenplay category made her the second third-generation Oscar winner in history. With Sean Penn and Tim Robbins's respective wins in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories, Mystic River became the fourth film to win both male acting awards.
Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, producersLost in Translation – Ross Katz and Sofia Coppola, producers Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Peter Weir and Duncan Henderson, producers Mystic River – Robert Lorenz, Judie G. Hoyt and Clint Eastwood, producers Seabiscuit – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Gary Ross, producers | valign="top" width="50%" |
Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Fernando Meirelles – City of God Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation Peter Weir – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Clint Eastwood – Mystic River Sean Penn – Mystic River as Jimmy Markum Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as Captain Jack Sparrow Ben Kingsley – House of Sand and Fog as Massoud Amir Behrani Jude Law – Cold Mountain as W. P. Inman Bill Murray – Lost in Translation as Bob Harris Charlize Theron – Monster as Aileen Wuornos Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider as Paikea Apirana Diane Keaton – Something's Gotta Give as Erica Barry Samantha Morton – In America as Sarah Sullivan Naomi Watts – 21 Grams as Cristina "Cris" Williams-Peck Tim Robbins – Mystic River as Dave Boyle Alec Baldwin – The Cooler as Shelley Kaplow Benicio del Toro – 21 Grams as Jack Jordan Djimon Hounsou – In America as Mateo Kuamey Ken Watanabe – The Last Samurai as Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto Renée Zellweger – Cold Mountain as Ruby Thewes Shohreh Aghdashloo – House of Sand and Fog as Nadereh Behrani Patricia Clarkson – Pieces of April as Joy Burns Marcia Gay Harden – Mystic River as Celeste Boyle Holly Hunter – Thirteen as Melanie Freeland Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola The Barbarian Invasions – Denys Arcand Dirty Pretty Things – Steven Knight Finding Nemo – Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds; Original Story by Andrew Stanton In America – Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini based on the comic book series American Splendor by Harvey Pekar and Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner City of God – Bráulio Mantovani based on the novel Cidade de Deus by Paulo Lins Mystic River – Brian Helgeland based on the novel by Dennis Lehane Seabiscuit – Gary Ross based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand Finding Nemo – Andrew Stanton Brother Bear – Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker The Triplets of Belleville – Sylvain Chomet The Barbarian Invasions (Canada) in French – Denys Arcand Evil (Sweden) in Swedish – Mikael Håfström The Twilight Samurai (Japan) in Japanese – Yoji Yamada Twin Sisters (Netherlands) in Dutch – Ben Sombogaart Želary (Czech Republic) in Czech – Ondřej Trojan The Fog of War – Errol Morris and Michael Williams Balseros – Carles Bosch and Josep Maria Domènech Capturing the Friedmans – Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling My Architect – Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr The Weather Underground – Sam Green and Bill Siegel Chernobyl Heart – Maryann DeLeo Asylum – Sandy McLeod and Gini Reticker Ferry Tales – Katja Esson Two Soldiers – Aaron Schneider and Andrew J. Sacks Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) – Florian Baxmeyer Most (The Bridge) – Bobby Garabedian and William Zabka Squash – Lionel Bailliu (A) Torzija [(A) Torsion] – Stefan Arsenijević Harvie Krumpet – Adam Elliot Boundin' – Bud Luckey Destino – Dominique Monféry and Roy Edward Disney Gone Nutty – Carlos Saldanha and John C. Donkin Nibbles – Christopher Hinton The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Howard Shore Big Fish – Danny Elfman Cold Mountain – Gabriel Yared Finding Nemo – Thomas Newman House of Sand and Fog – James Horner "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Music and Lyrics by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox "Belleville Rendez-vous" from The Triplets of Belleville – Music by Benoît Charest; Lyrics by Sylvain Chomet "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from A Mighty Wind – Music and Lyrics by Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole "Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain – Music and Lyrics by T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello "You Will Be My Ain True Love" from Cold Mountain – Music and Lyrics by Sting Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Richard King Finding Nemo – Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Christopher Boyes and George Watters II The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek The Last Samurai – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Jeff Wexler Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Paul Massey, Doug Hemphill and Art Rochester Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Christopher Boyes, David Parker, David Campbell and Lee Orloff Seabiscuit – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Tod A. Maitland The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee Girl with a Pearl Earring – Art Direction: Ben Van Os; Set Decoration: Cecile Heideman The Last Samurai – Art Direction: Lilly Kilvert; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Art Direction: William Sandell; Set Decoration: Robert Gould Seabiscuit – Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Leslie Pope Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Russell Boyd City of God – Cesar Charlone Cold Mountain – John Seale Girl with a Pearl Earring – Eduardo Serra Seabiscuit – John Schwartzman The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Richard Taylor and Peter King Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Edouard Henriques III and Yolanda Toussieng Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Ve Neill and Martin Samuel The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor Girl with a Pearl Earring – Dien van Straalen The Last Samurai – Ngila Dickson Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Wendy Stites Seabiscuit – Judianna Makovsky The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Jamie Selkirk City of God – Daniel Rezende Cold Mountain – Walter Murch Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Lee Smith Seabiscuit – William Goldenberg The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Dan Sudick, Stefen Fangmeier, Nathan McGuinness and Robert Stromberg Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Terry Frazee
Honorary Award To Blake Edwards in recognition of his writing, directing and producing an extraordinary body of work for the screen.
Films with multiple nominations and awards
+ Films with multiple nominations Nominations Film 11 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 10Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 7 Cold Mountain Seabiscuit 6 Mystic River 5 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 4 City of God Finding Nemo The Last Samurai Lost in Translation 3 In America Girl with a Pearl Earring House of Sand and Fog 2 The Barbarian Invasions The Triplets of Belleville 21 Grams
+ Films with multiple awards Awards Film 11 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Mystic River
Presenters and performers The following individuals presented awards or performed individual numbers.
Presenters (in order of appearance)