The ceremony, which was televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd and directed by Glenn Weiss.

[11] In related events, the Academy held its 9th Annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on November 11, 2017.

The nominees for the 90th Academy Awards were announced on January 23, 2018, at 5:22 a.m. PST (13:22 UTC), at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by actors Tiffany Haddish and Andy Serkis.

[20] At age 22, Best Actor nominee Timothée Chalamet was the third-youngest person nominated in that category and the youngest since 19-year-old Mickey Rooney for his role in Babes in Arms in 1939.

[36] Kimmel expressed that he was thrilled to be selected to emcee the gala again, commenting, "Hosting the Oscars was a highlight of my career and I am grateful to Cheryl [Boone Isaacs], Dawn [Hudson], and the Academy for asking me to return to work with two of my favorite people, Mike De Luca and Jennifer Todd.

[44][45] In view of the previous year's Best Picture announcement error, actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway returned to present the award again.

Hank Stuever of The Washington Post remarked, "In his second year, Kimmel has shown that the telecast needn't be anything but sharp and sure, with a funny host whose bits are manageable, shareable and – best of all – forgotten.

Yet if the intent was ultimately to maintain a celebratory tone without ignoring either the outside world or the elephant in the room throughout this year's awards, host Jimmy Kimmel and the show itself largely succeeded.

With the exception of the theater stunt and two unnecessary toss-off Matt Damon jokes — Kimmel really can't resist — I thought he was good, probably even better than last year.

Normally it takes about two hours for the numbing effect to set in, but despite host Jimmy Kimmel's best efforts, Sunday's telecast started to feel a bit languid and low-energy far earlier."

She also added, "The ceremony probably felt so ambiguous and conflicted in part because everyone in that room — and many at home — know how much more work needs to be done before true inclusion is the norm and all the offenders are driven from the industry.

"[56] Time television columnist Daniel D'Addario commented, "Kimmel, a talk show host who has been inspiring and catalyzing in the past year while discussing issues personally connected to him, seemed flat and uninspired in his monologue when dealing with topics that demanded laceration.

"[57] David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Even the hope that the noise of clapping might keep the audience at home and in the theater awake, there was little of that for anything except the entrance of actors of advance age.