Inside the Making of the 2026 Oscar Statuette and the $1 Rule That Governs It

Overview

• The Academy’s Rule Four requires winners and their heirs to offer the statuette back to AMPAS for US$1, giving the organization 30 days to repurchase and limiting holders to the physical trophy only.
• The statuette is cast in bronze and finished with 24‑karat gold, measuring about 34 cm in height with a base near 13 cm and a weight close to 3.85–4 kg.
• Production observed in New York State begins with wax molded at about 93 °C, builds a ceramic shell through 12 dips, replaces the wax with bronze poured at over 1,000 °C, and concludes with bronze, nickel and gold baths.
• Reporting names UAP Polich Tallix for bronze casting and Epner Technology in Brooklyn for the final gold electroplating and finish.
• Outlets cite a commonly reported per‑unit cost near US$400, though G1 notes that precise costs and annual quantities remain undisclosed and that unused trophies are stored for potential reuse.