The “Big Five” Oscars—Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay—represent the Academy Awards’ most prestigious honors. 

Only three films have won all five in the same year. All three began as books.

The first was “It Happened One Night,” which completed the sweep on Feb. 22, 1934.

The romantic comedy was adapted from Samuel Hopkins Adams’ 1933 short story “Night Bus,” originally published in Cosmopolitan magazine.

The film won Best Picture, Best Director for Frank Capra, Best Actor for Clark Gable and Best Actress for Claudette Colbert. Robert Riskin won Best Adapted Screenplay for his script based on Adams’ story.

In 1993, it was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

More than 40 years later, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” matched the feat.

Released Nov. 19, 1975, the film was based on Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel of the same name.

It won Best Picture, Best Director for Miloš Forman, Best Actor for Jack Nicholson and Best Actress for Louise Fletcher. Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman won Best Adapted Screenplay.

Like its predecessor, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1993.

The most recent Big Five sweep came with 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs,” adapted from Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel.

The thriller won Best Picture, Best Director for Jonathan Demme, Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Actress for Jodie Foster. Ted Talley won Best Adapted Screenplay.

In 1998, the American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest American films of the previous 100 years.

A few films have come close to sweeping the Big Five, including 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” based on Edward Albee’s stage play.

Despite decades of nominees, no other film—adapted or original—has managed to sweep all five top Academy Awards in a single year.

The 98th Academy Awards will take place March 15, 2026. The ceremony will air live on ABC and stream on Hulu beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

This year’s nominees once again include several high-profile adaptations, including “One Battle After Another,” inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland,” “Frankenstein,” based on Mary Shelley’s novel, and “Hamnet,” adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s book.

For a full breakdown of this year’s nominated adaptations, see our complete coverage.

About the writer

S. Lynn Bonanno may be behind on her Oscar viewing and source-material reading, but she is always ready with Oscar trivia.