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A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Visual Effects.

74 ceremonies, 1940–2025. 73 different winners. The longest run belongs to Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe & Gerd Nefzer in 2025 for Dune: Part Two.
Who has won the most?
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke, 2 wins (2003, 2004).
  1. Dune: Part TwoPaul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe & Gerd Nefzer
  2. Godzilla Minus OneTakashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi & Tatsuji Nojima
  3. Avatar: The Way of WaterJoe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon & Daniel Barrett
  4. DunePaul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor & Gerd Nefzer
  5. TenetAndrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley & Scott Fisher
  6. 1917Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler & Dominic Tuohy
Years explored
1940–2025
Different winners
73
Category leader
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke · 2
About this record

Best Visual Effects was first awarded in 1940, so it does not run the full 1929–2025 window.

In the years missing here the Academy recognised effects work with an Honorary or Special Achievement Award instead of running a competitive category, so there were no nominees to list.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19402025

01 / The reigns

Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke set the longest run.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited distributor.

  1. 01
    Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke2 wins
Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by distributor; hover for details.
John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley & Jon Thum'00
John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke & Rob Harvey'01
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'02
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'03–'04×2
Spider-Man 2'05
King Kong'06
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson & Allen Hall'07
The Golden Compass'08
Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton & Craig Barron'09
Avatar'10
Inception'11
Hugo'12
Life of Pi'13
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk & Neil Corbould'14
Interstellar'15
Ex Machina'16
The Jungle Book'17
Blade Runner 2049'18
First Man'19
Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler & Dominic Tuohy'20
Tenet'21
Dune'22
Avatar: The Way of Water'23
Godzilla Minus One'24
Dune: Part Two'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Warner Bros. leads the recorded distributor credits with 11 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Warner Bros.11 wins
Universal4 wins
20th Century3 wins
Paramount3 wins
Disney2 wins
A241 win
Wins by distributor
  1. Warner Bros.1142%
  2. Universal415%
  3. 20th Century312%
  4. Paramount312%
  5. Disney28%
  6. A2414%
  7. Other28%

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerDistributor
2025Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe & Gerd Nefzer (Dune: Part Two)
beat 4 others
  • Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin & Shane Mahan (Alien: Romulus)
  • Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft & Peter Stubbs (Better Man)
  • Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story & Rodney Burke (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes)
  • Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk & Paul Corbould (Wicked)
Warner Bros.
2024Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi & Tatsuji Nojima (Godzilla Minus One)
beat 4 others
  • Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts & Neil Corbould (The Creator)
  • Stéphane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams & Theo Bialek (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)
  • Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland & Neil Corbould (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One)
  • Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco & Neil Corbould (Napoleon)
Toho International
2023Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon & Daniel Barrett (Avatar: The Way of Water)
beat 4 others
  • Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank & Kamil Jafar (All Quiet on the Western Front)
  • Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands & Dominic Tuohy (The Batman)
  • Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White & Dan Sudick (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
  • Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson & Scott R. Fisher (Top Gun: Maverick)
20th Century Studios
2022Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor & Gerd Nefzer (Dune)
beat 4 others
  • Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis & Dan Sudick (Free Guy)
  • Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner & Chris Corbould (No Time to Die)
  • Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker & Dan Oliver (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
  • Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein & Dan Sudick (Spider-Man: No Way Home)
Warner Bros.
2021Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley & Scott Fisher (Tenet)
beat 4 others
  • Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt & Brian Cox (Love and Monsters)
  • Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon & David Watkins (The Midnight Sky)
  • Sean Andrew Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury & Steve Ingram (Mulan)
  • Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones & Santiago Colomo Martínez (The One and Only Ivan)
Warner Bros.
2020Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler & Dominic Tuohy (1917)
beat 4 others
  • Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken & Dan Sudick (Avengers: Endgame)
  • Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser & Stephane Grabli (The Irishman)
  • Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones & Elliot Newman (The Lion King)
  • Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach & Dominic Tuohy (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)
Universal Pictures
2019Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles & J. D. Schwalm (First Man)
beat 4 others
  • Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl & Dan Sudick (Avengers: Infinity War)
  • Chris Lawrence, Mike Eames, Theo Jones & Chris Corbould (Christopher Robin)
  • Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler & David Shirk (Ready Player One)
  • Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan & Dominic Tuohy (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
Universal Pictures
2018John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert & Richard R. Hoover (Blade Runner 2049)
beat 4 others
  • Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner & Dan Sudick (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)
  • Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza & Mike Meinardus (Kong: Skull Island)
  • Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan & Chris Corbould (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)
  • Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon & Joel Whist (War for the Planet of the Apes)
Warner Bros.
2017Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones & Dan Lemmon (The Jungle Book)
beat 4 others
  • Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington & Burt Dalton (Deepwater Horizon)
  • Stéphane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli & Paul Corbould (Doctor Strange)
  • Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean & Brad Schiff (Kubo and the Two Strings)
  • John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel & Neil Corbould (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
Walt Disney Pictures
2016Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris & Andrew Whitehurst (Ex Machina)
beat 4 others
  • Andrew Jackson, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams & Tom Wood (Mad Max: Fury Road)
  • Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence, Richard Stammers & Steven Warner (The Martian)
  • Richard McBride, Matt Shumway, Jason Smith & Cameron Waldbauer (The Revenant)
  • Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach & Neal Scanlan (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
A24
2015Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter & Scott R. Fisher (Interstellar)
beat 4 others
  • Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill & Dan Sudick (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
  • Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett & Erik Winquist (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
  • Stéphane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner & Paul Corbould (Guardians of the Galaxy)
  • Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie & Cameron Waldbauer (X-Men: Days of Future Past)
Paramount Pictures
2014Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk & Neil Corbould (Gravity)
beat 4 others
  • Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton & Eric Reynolds (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)
  • Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash & Dan Sudick (Iron Man 3)
  • Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams & John Frazier (The Lone Ranger)
  • Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann & Burt Dalton (Star Trek Into Darkness)
Warner Bros.
2013Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer & Donald R. Elliott (Life of Pi)
beat 4 others
  • Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton & R. Christopher White (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
  • Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams & Dan Sudick (Marvel's The Avengers)
  • Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley & Martin Hill (Prometheus)
  • Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould & Michael Dawson (Snow White and the Huntsman)
20th Century Fox
2012Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann & Alex Henning (Hugo)
beat 4 others
  • Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler & John Richardson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2)
  • Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor & Swen Gillberg (Real Steel)
  • Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White & Daniel Barrett (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)
  • Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler & John Frazier (Transformers: Dark of the Moon)
Paramount Pictures
2011Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb (Inception)
beat 4 others
  • Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas & Sean Phillips (Alice in Wonderland)
  • Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz & Nicolas Aithadi (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1)
  • Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky & Joe Farrell (Hereafter)
  • Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright & Dan Sudick (Iron Man 2)
Warner Bros.
2010Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham & Andrew R. Jones (Avatar)
beat 2 others
  • Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros & Matt Aitken (District 9)
  • Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh & Burt Dalton (Star Trek)
20th Century Fox
2009Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton & Craig Barron (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
beat 2 others
  • Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber & Paul Franklin (The Dark Knight)
  • John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick & Shane Mahan (Iron Man)
Paramount Pictures
2008Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris & Trevor Wood (The Golden Compass)
beat 2 others
  • John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson & John Frazier (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End)
  • Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl & John Frazier (Transformers)
New Line Cinema
2007John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson & Allen Hall (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest)
beat 2 others
  • Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chas Jarrett & John Frazier (Poseidon)
  • Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover & Jon Thum (Superman Returns)
Walt Disney Pictures
2006Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers & Richard Taylor (King Kong)
beat 2 others
  • Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney & Scott Farrar (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
  • Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randal M. Dutra & Dan Sudick (War of the Worlds)
Universal Pictures
2005John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara & John Frazier (Spider-Man 2)
beat 2 others
  • Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, John Richardson & William George (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
  • John Nelson, Andrew R. Jones, Erik Nash & Joe Letteri (I, Robot)
Columbia Pictures
2004Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)repeat
beat 2 others
  • Dan Sudick, Stefen Fangmeier, Nathan McGuinness & Robert Stromberg (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World)
  • John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson & Terry Frazee (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
New Line Cinema
2003Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)
beat 2 others
  • John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara & John Frazier (Spider-Man)
  • Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll & Ben Snow (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones)
New Line Cinema
2002Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor & Mark Stetson (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
beat 2 others
  • Dennis Muren, Scott Farrar, Stan Winston & Michael Lantieri (A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
  • Eric Brevig, John Frazier, Ed Hirsh & Ben Snow (Pearl Harbor)
New Line Cinema
2001John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke & Rob Harvey (Gladiator)
beat 2 others
  • Scott E. Anderson, Craig Hayes, Scott Stokdyk & Stan Parks (Hollow Man)
  • Stefen Fangmeier, Habib Zargarpour, John Frazier & Walt Conti (The Perfect Storm)
DreamWorks Pictures
2000John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley & Jon Thum (The Matrix)
beat 2 others
  • John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires & Rob Coleman (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace)
  • John Dykstra, Jerome Chen, Henry F. Anderson III & Eric Allard (Stuart Little)
Warner Bros.