76th Academy Awards | |
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Official poster
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Date | February 29, 2004 |
Site |
Kodak Theatre Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Hosted by | Billy Crystal |
Preshow host(s) |
Billy Bush Chris Connelly Maria Menounos |
Produced by | Joe Roth |
Directed by | Louis J. Horvitz |
Highlights | |
Best Picture | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
Most awards | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11) |
Most nominations | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11) |
TV in the United States | |
Network | ABC |
Duration | 3 hours, 45 minutes |
Ratings | 43.56 million 26.68% (Nielsen ratings) |
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 beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. 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 all eleven awards it was nominated for, tying the Academy Awards record for most awards won (alongside Ben Hur and Titanic), 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 North America the United States, making it the most-watched telecast in four years.