Best Picture Oscar Nominee ‘Nickel Boys’ Gets Streaming Premiere Date

Nickel Boys— the drama from director RaMell Ross that earned a 2025 Best Picture Oscar nomination on Thursday — will soon be available to stream video on demand.

Published by Amazon MGM Studios, Nickel Boys– based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, hit theaters on December 13 in a limited release. In addition to Best Picture, the film’s director, RaMell Ross, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with co-writer Joslyn Barnes.

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The official summary of Nickel Boys It reads: “Elwood Curtis’ (Ethan Herisse) college dream is shattered along a two-lane Florida highway. Bearing the brunt of an innocent misstep, he is condemned to the underworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory buried deep in the Jim Crow South. He meets another ward, Turner (Brandon Wilson), who has seen it all.

“The two black teenagers bond: Turner dispensing basic advice for survival, Elwood clinging to his optimistic view of the world. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning civil rights movement, the existence of Elwood and Turner seems a far cry from the polite speech of the Reverend Martin Luther King. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood strives to retain his humanity, awakening a new vision for Turner.

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MGM+ issued a press release on Friday to announce that the film will arrive on the streaming service on Friday, February 28 at 8 p.m.

You must be a subscriber to MGM+ to watch Nickel Boys on the streaming platform. MGM+ offers a 7-day free trial followed by a subscription price of $6.99 per month. Additionally, the streamer is offering an annual subscription for $58.99 for a limited time. Both subscription plans are ad-free.

How have audiences and critics responded to “Nickel Boys”?

According to The numbers, Nickel Boys earned $1.165 million domestically and over $356,000 internationally for a worldwide box office of $1.5 million to date. Box office tracking noted the film moving from 240 to 540 North American theaters this weekend.

By IndieWire, Nickel Boys had a production budget of $23 million before printing and advertising costs.

Rotten Tomatoes critics gave Nickel Boys a 90% “fresh” rating based on 174 reviews. THE RT The critics consensus for the film reads: “Director RaMell Ross’s stylistically radical approach to adapting Colson Whitehead’s searing novel will be shocking to some, but Nickel BoysThe feeling of immersion produces the breathtaking effect of walking in someone else’s shoes.

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The public gave Nickel Boys a “fresh” rating of 77% on RT based on over 100 verified user reviews.

In addition to Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Nickel Boysthe film earned a nomination for Best Motion Picture, Drama at the Golden Globes, six nominations at the NAACP Image Awards, and five nominations at the Critics Choice Awards.

RaMell Ross also earned a Director’s Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Debut Feature Film.

Rated PG-13, Nickel Boys—which also stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Hamish Linklater—debuts on MGM+ February 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

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