The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the show, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 1997. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the sixth time. He had first hosted the 62nd ceremony held in 1990, and most recently the previous year's awards. Nearly a month earlier in an event held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on February 28, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Ashley Judd.
Titanic won eleven awards, including Best Picture, a number that is tied with Ben-Hur and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Other winners included As Good as It Gets, Good Will Hunting, and L.A. Confidential with two awards, and Character, The Full Monty, Geri's Game, The Long Way Home, Men in Black, A Story of Healing, and Visas and Virtue with one. The telecast garnered more than 57 million viewers in the United States, making it the most watched Oscars broadcast in history.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 70th Academy Awards were announced on February 10, 1998, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Robert Rehme, president of the academy, and actress Geena Davis. Titanic received the most nominations with a record-tying fourteen (1950's All About Eve, and later 2016's La La Land, also achieved this distinction); Good Will Hunting and L.A. Confidential came in second with nine apiece.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 23, 1998. With eleven awards, Titanic tied with Ben-Hur for the most Academy Awards in Oscar history. It also became the first film to win Best Picture without a screenwriting nomination since 1965's The Sound of Music. Jack Nicholson became the fourth performer to win at least three acting Oscars. Both Nicholson and Helen Hunt won for their roles in As Good as It Gets, making it the seventh film to win both lead acting awards. Nominated for their performances as Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, Best Actress nominee Kate Winslet and Best Supporting Actress nominee Gloria Stuart became the first pair of actresses nominated for portraying the same character in the same film. At age 87, Stuart also became the oldest performer nominated for a competitive Oscar.
Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().
{ | class=wikitable
| valign="top" width="50%" |
Titanic – James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers As Good as It Gets – James L. Brooks, Bridgit Johnson and Kristi Zea, producers The Full Monty – Uberto Pasolini, producer Good Will Hunting – Lawrence Bender, producer L.A. Confidential – Arnon Milchan, Curtis Hanson and Michael Nathanson, producers | valign="top" width="50%" |
James Cameron – Titanic
Peter Cattaneo – The Full Monty
Gus Van Sant – Good Will Hunting
Curtis Hanson – L.A. Confidential
Atom Egoyan – The Sweet Hereafter
|-
| valign="top" |
Jack Nicholson – As Good as It Gets as Melvin Udall
Matt Damon – Good Will Hunting as Will Hunting
Robert Duvall – The Apostle as Euliss "Sonny" Dewey, a.k.a. "The Apostle E.F." Peter Fonda – Ulee's Gold as Ulysses "Ulee" Jackson Dustin Hoffman – Wag the Dog as Stanley Motss | valign="top" |