Oscars 2016: Enter The Eagle’s annual contest for chance to win Warren Theatre prizes

You are out of Academy Award excuses. All of the films nominated for the Best Picture award this year have been in Wichita at some point.

Now, it’s time to start guessing, and you might as well do it as part of The Wichita Eagle’s annual Oscar Ballot Contest. The contest offers a top prize of $350 worth of gift certificates to the Warren Theatres that are good not only for movie admission but also for popcorn, nachos, cold beer – anything the theater sells.

The 88th annual Academy Award ceremony will air starting at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 on ABC. (The “red carpet” arrivals start at 6 p.m.)

The Oscars, and the Oscar contest, are a tradition for many Wichita filmgoers, said Dan Gray, vice president for operations for the Warren Theatre chain. As soon as the nominees are announced each year, he starts getting calls about what’s playing where and when.

“I think just that people are fascinated with movies,” Gray said. “And the Oscars are so much a part of the history of the movie business. People just find it enjoyable trying to pick the winners and seeing if they look at it the same way as the Academy.”

There are two separate age categories in The Eagle’s contest. The winner in each group will be the person who guesses the most categories correctly in an online Oscars ballot, which is posted on The Eagle’s website (www.kansas.com/oscars). Contestants have until 4 p.m. Feb. 28 to make their guesses in 24 categories (10 for the younger category). Only one ballot is allowed for each person.

The first-place winner in the 18-and-older category (ENTER HERE | Official rules) will get $350 in Warren Theatre gift certificates, followed by $200 for the second-place winner and $100 for the third-place winner. There’s also a category for young movie fans ages 13-17 (ENTER HERE | Official rules), who will win $150 in gift certificates to the Warren for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third. For the complete official rules, go to www.kansas.com/oscars.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Oscars 2016: Enter The Eagle’s annual contest for chance to win Warren Theatre prizes."