January 22, 2026
by Carla Hay

With a record-breaking 16 nods, the Warner Bros. Pictures vampire drama “Sinners” is the top nominee for the 98th Annual Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which will be hosted by Conan O’Brien and livestreamed on Hulu. The nominations were announced by actress Danielle Brooks and actor Lewis Pullman on January 22, 2026. The 16 nominations for “Sinners” make “Sinners” the movie with the most Oscar nominations in one year, breaking the record previously held by 2016’s “La La Land,” 1997’s “Titanic” and 1950’s “All About Eve,” which had 14 nominations each.
The nominations for “Sinners” are Best Picture; Best Director (for Ryan Coogler); Best Actor (for Michael B. Jordan); Best Supporting Actress (for Wunmi Musaku); Best Supporting Actor (for Delroy Lindo); Best Original Screenplay; Best Film Editing; Best Cinematography; Best Production Design; Best Costume Design; Best Makeup and Hairstyling; Best Sound; Best Visual Effects; Best Original Score; Best Original Song (for “I Lied to You”); and Best Casting, a new Oscar category that debuts this year.
As of 2022, the Academy Awards rule is that no less than 10 movies can be nominated for Best Picture. The other contenders for Best Picture are Focus Features’ sci-fi comedy/drama “Bugonia”; Apple Original Films’ action film “F1”; Netflix’s horror film “Frankenstein”; Focus Features’ drama “Hamnet”; A24’s comedy/drama “Marty Supreme”; Warner Bros. Pictures’ action comedy “One Battle After Another”; Neon’s drama “The Secret Agent”; Neon’s drama “Sentimental Value”; and Netflix’s “Train Dreams.”
“One Battle After Another” had the second-highest number of Oscar nominations this year (13 nods each), followed by “Frankenstein,” “Marty Supreme” and “Sentimental Value,” which had nine nods each.
The awards are voted for by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For the 2026 ceremony, eligible movies were those released in the U.S. cinemas or in their native country in 2025.
Snubs and Surprises

Some movies that have been getting awards or nominations elsewhere were completely snubbed by the Academy Awards. They include Universal Pictures’ musical “Wicked: For Good,” Neon’s comedy/drama “No Other Choice,” and A24’s drama “Sorry, Baby.” The Oscar shutout for “Wicked: For Good” (a sequel to 2024’s “Wicked”) was an especially noticeable because “Wicked” had 10 Oscar nominations, and ended up winning two Oscars: Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. “Wicked: For Good” was not as highly praised by critics as “Wicked,” and it seems as if Oscar voters didnt think “Wicked: For Good” had anything original in the movie that was award-worthy.
The snubs for individual 2026 Oscar nominations, despite being nominated elsewhere, were Paul Mescal of “Hamnet” (Best Supporting Actor), Chase Infiniti of “One Battle After Another” (Best Actress) and Odessa A’zion of “Marty Supreme” (Best Supporting Actress).
Perhaps the biggest surprise was Delroy Lindo of “Sinners” getting nominated for Best Supporting Actor, after he had been passed over for nominations at other major awards shows. Elle Fanning of “Sentimental Value” getting a nod for Best Supporting Actress was also a surprise because other major awards shows had snubbed her for this nomination. Lindo and Fanning are both first-time Oscar nominees for these respective movies.
Diversity and Inclusion

Racial diversity is in every actor/actress category at the 2026 Academy Awards, except for Best Actress where all the nominees are white. Black people are represented the most with “Sinners,” which has black people nominated in the categories for Best Picture (Ryan Coogler and his wife Zinzi Coogler), Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay (Ryan Coogler), Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), Best Original Song (Raphael Saadiq), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Shunika Terry), Best Production Design (Hanna Beachler) and Best Costume Design (Ruth E. Carter).
Because of “Sinners,” director/writer/producer Ryan Coogler is the black person with the most Oscar nominations (three) this year: He’s nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. Black people nominated in other Oscar categories are Teyana Taylor of “One Battle After Another” (Best Supporting Actress); producers Alisa Payne and Nikon Kwantu of Netflix’s “The Perfect Neighbor” (Best Documentary Feature Film); and producer/co-director Christalyn Hampton for HBO’s “The Devil Is Busy” (Best Documentary Short Film).
Latin representation for individual Oscar nominees was most visible because of the Brazilian film “The Secret Agent,” with star Wagner Moura getting his first Oscar nod for Best Actor, while casting director Gabriel Domingues got an Oscar nomination for Best Casting. The category for Best International Feature Film, where “The Secret Agent” is also nominated, is an award for a nation, not any individuals. “The Secret Agent” producer Emilie Lesclaux, who is a French-born white filmmaker, is the movie’s only nominee for Best Picture. Elsewhere, “One Battle After Another” co-star Benicio del Toro, who is Puerto Rican, received a nod for Best Supporting Actor. The category for Best Sound has several Latin nominees: José Antonio García and Tony Villaflor of “One Battle After Another”; Felipe Pacheco of “Sinners”; and Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas of Neon’s Spanish drama “Sirāt.”
Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro of “Frankenstein” is nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screeenplay. Nominees for Best Animated feature film include co-director Adrian Molina for Pixar’s “Elio,” producer Nidia Santiago for GKIDS’ “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” and producer Yvett Merino for Walt Disney Pictures’ “Zootopia 2,” which currently holds the record for Disney’s highest-grossing animated film at the box office. Meanwhile, producer Juan Arredondo of “Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” is nominated for Best Documentary Short Film.
Middle-Eastern heritage filmmakers have several Oscar nominations, most notably with screenwriters Jafar Panahi, Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin and Mehdi Mahmoudian of Neon’s Iran-located drama “It Was Just an Accident,” nominated for Best Original Screenplay. For “Cutting Through Rocks,” another movie taking place in Iran, directors/producers Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni are nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.
South Asian-heritage filmmakers who are Oscar-nominated this year include director Geeta Gandbhir, who scored two nominations: one for “The Perfect Neighbor” (Best Documentary Feature Film) and the other for “The Devil Is Busy” (Best Documentary Short Film). “Two People Changing Saliva” co-director/producer Alexandre Singh is nominated for Best Live-Action Short Film.
East Asian-heritage filmmakers received several Oscar nods, most notably Chinese-born filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who received two nominations for “Hamnet”: Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Zhao is one of the few women who’s won an Oscar for Best Director, having previously received this prize for 2020’s “Nomadland.” The category for Best Animated Feature Film has several nominees of East Asian heritage: Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” co-director Maggie Kang and producer Michelle M. Wong; “Elio” co-director Domee Shi; and “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” co-director Liane-Cho Han.
“KPop Demon Hunters” (about a South Korean singing group moonlighting as demon hunters) is also nominated for Best Original Song (for “Golden”), whose nominated Asian writers are Ejae, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park. The category of Best Makeup and Hairstyling has four nominees of Japanese heritage: Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu of GKIDS’ Japanese movie “Kokuho” and Kazu Hiro of A24’s drama “The Smashing Machine.” Meanwhile, Miyako Bellizzi of “Marty Supreme” is nominated for Best Costume Design.
LGBTQ representation in the Oscar nominations can be found with Apple TV’s “Come See Me in the Good Light,” which chronicles the journey of writer spouses Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley, after Gibson was diagnosed with cancer. “Come See Me in the Good Light” director Ryan White and producer Tig Nitaro are openly gay. In the categories for actors and actresses, Ethan Hawke received a nod for Best Actor portraying real-life Broadway lyricist Lorenz “Larry” Hart in Sony Pictures Classics’ drama “Blue Moon,” which also received a nod for Best Original Screenplay. Hart never publicly stated what his sexuality was in real life, but the movie implies that he is queer, and several historical accounts of him describe him as queer.
And although several Oscar categories are still dominated by male nominees (such as Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Sound and Best Original Score), some women are nominated in a small number of male-dominated categories. “Sinners” cinematogapher Durald Arkapaw became only the fourth woman in Oscar history to be nominated for Best Cinematography. Durald Akrapaw, who identifies as multiracial (Filipina and black), is also the first woman of color to get an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. The previously named Best Sound nominees for “Sirāt” are all women. It’s very rare for a movie to have only women nominees in this category. Gwendolyn Yates Whittle of “F1” is also one of the females nominees for Best Sound this year.
Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2026 Academy Awards:
Best Picture
“Bugonia”
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“The Secret Agent”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sinners”
“Train Dreams”
Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson (“One Battle After Another”)
Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”)
Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”)
Joachim Trier (“Sentimental Value”)
Chloé Zhao (“Hamnet”)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet (“Marty Supreme”)
Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”)
Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”)
Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”)
Wagner Moura (“The Secret Agent”)
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”)
Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”)
Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”)
Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”)
Emma Stone (“Bugonia”)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Benicio Del Toro (“One Battle After Another”)
Jacob Elordi (“Frankenstein”)
Delroy Lindo (“Sinners”)
Sean Penn (“One Battle After Another”)
Stellan Skarsgård (“Sentimental Value”0
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Elle Fanning (“Sentimental Value”)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (“Sentimental Value”)
Amy Madigan (“Weapons”)
Wunmi Mosaku (“Sinners”)
Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”)
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Bugonia,” written by Will Tracy
“Frankenstein,” written by Guillermo del Toro
“Hamnet,” written by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell
“One Battle After Another,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson
“Train Dreams,” written by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
Best Original Screenplay
“Blue Moon,” written by Robert Kaplow
“It Was Just an Accident,” written by Jafar Panahi, in collaboration with Shadmehr Rastin, Nader Saïvar and Mehdi Mahmoudian
“Marty Supreme,” written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“Sentimental Value,” written by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier
“Sinners,” written by Ryan Coogler
Best Cinematography
“Frankenstein,” Dan Laustsen
“Marty Supreme,” Darius Khondji
“One Battle After Another,” Michael Bauman
“Sinners,” Autumn Durald Arkapaw
“Train Dreams,” Adolpho Veloso
Best Film Editing
“F1,” Stephen Mirrione
“Marty Supreme,” Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another,” Andy Jurgensen
“Sentimental Value,” Olivier Bugge Coutté
“Sinners,” Michael P. Shawver
Best Casting
“Hamnet,” Nina Gold
“Marty Supreme,” Jennifer Venditti
“One Battle After Another,” Cassandra Kulukundis
“The Secret Agent,” Gabriel Domingues
“Sinners,” Francine Maisler
Best Sound
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“Sirāt”
Best Original Score
“Bugonia,” Jerskin Fendrix
“Frankenstein,” Alexandre Desplat
“Hamnet,” Max Richter
“One Battle After Another,” Jonny Greenwood
“Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson
Best Original Song
“Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless” – Music and lyrics by Diane Warren
“Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” – Music and lyrics by Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park
“I Lied to You” from “Sinners” – Music and lyrics by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” – Music and lyrics by Nicholas Pike
“Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams” – Music and lyrics by Nick Cave
Best Animated Feature Film
“Arco”
“Elio”
“KPop Demon Hunters”
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
“Zootopia 2”
Best International Feature Film
“It Was Just an Accident” (France)
“The Secret Agent” (Brazil)
“Sentimental Value” (Norway)
“Sirāt” (Spain)
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia)
Best Documentary Feature
“The Alabama Solution”
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“Cutting Through Rocks”
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”
“The Perfect Neighbor”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Frankenstein”
“Kokuho”
“Sinners”
“The Smashing Machine”
“The Ugly Stepsister”
Best Costume Design
“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Deborah L. Scott
“Frankenstein,” Kate Hawley
“Hamnet,” Malgosia Turzanska
“Marty Supreme,” Miyako Bellizzi
“Sinners,” Ruth E. Carter
Best Production Design
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
Best Visual Effects
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“F1”
“Jurassic World Rebirth”
“The Lost Bus”
“Sinners”
Best Documentary Short Film
“All the Empty Rooms”
“Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”
“Children No More: ‘Were and Are Gone'”
“The Devil Is Busy”
“Perfectly a Strangeness”
Best Animated Short Film
“Butterfly”
“Forevergreen”
“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”
“Retirement Plan”
“The Three Sisters”
Best Live-Action Short Film
“Butcher’s Stain’
“A Friend of Dorothy”
“Jane Austen’s Period Drama”
“The Singers”
“Two People Exchanging Saliva”



















