281 features vying for best picture prize

BEVERLY HILLS , Calif., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Two hundred eighty-one feature films are eligible for the 2008 Academy Award for best picture, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Monday.

To qualify for 81st Academy Awards consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion-picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight Wednesday, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days.

Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations are to be announced Jan. 22 at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Five out of the 281 films are to be nominated for the best picture Oscar.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 are to be presented Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.