2026 Oscars Nominations: The Good, The Bad, The Huh?
Yesterday morning, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominations for the 2026 Oscars ceremony. Warner Bros’ Sinners led the pack with 16 nominations, while One Battle After Another (13 nominations), Frankenstein (10 nominations), Marty Supreme (10 nominations), Sentimental Value (10 nominations), and Hamnet (8 nominations) followed close behind.
Ed note: This was supposed to come out yesterday, but due to some shoulder x-rays and the impending snowmaggedon in the Northeast, it's been pushed to this morning.
Warner Bros was the studio with the most nominations on Thursday morning as Sinners and One Battle After Another led the field, like they have all season. It's not surprising that they were nominated in so many categories, but perhaps their overall dominance is worth noting.
Sinners now holds the title for most nominations for a single film. The record was previously 14 nominations held by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land. One of the happiest surprises of the morning was the nomination for Delroy Lindo for his supporting role in Sinners. A few years back, it was assumed he'd be nominated for his performance in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, so it's wonderful that this actor was acknowledged. Another of the many highlights among Sinners nominations was the Best Director nomination for Ryan Coogler. Coogler is now the seventh Black filmmaker to ever be nominated in the category, but no black director has ever won the honor. Most of these nominations have occurred since 2010– before that, the only black director to ever be nominated was John Singleton in 1992 for his film Boyz n the Hood. Also of note, Ruth E. Carter earned her 5th nomination (Costume Design for Sinners), and she is now the most-nominated Black woman in Oscar history.
There was an additional award to the Oscars this year for Achievement in Casting. That certainly helped Sinners' total, but it would've beaten the record even without the new award category.
One Battle After Another (the presumptive frontrunner) got lots of attention as well. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, who has now achieved 24 personal nominations at the Oscars, has never won an individual Oscar. This is despite a filmography that includes all-time greats like There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Phantom Thread, and more. With his seventh acting nomination (and one for producing The Wolf of Wall Street), Leonardo DiCaprio joins a rarified company like Robert De Niro, Peter O'Toole, and Jack Lemmon.
Marty Supreme got plenty of attention, and rightfully so; it's a really fantastic film. The reason is really the wunderkind at the center of it, Timothee Chalamet. At 30 years old, he is now the youngest male actor in history to earn three Best Actor nominations. He surpasses the film legend, Marlon Brando, who was also 30 at the time, but Chalamet is a few months younger. He's also the youngest person to be nominated for Acting and Producing in the same year, beating Warren Beatty's 58-year-old record (Bonnie and Clyde). Chalamet has now appeared in eight different Best Picture nominees by the age of 30.
Other notable nominations include Wagner Moura (who won the Cannes Film Festival honor for Best Actor), the first Brazilian actor to be nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work in The Secret Agent. The Secret Agent was also a surprise Best Picture nominee, likely signifying a competition between The Secret Agent and Sentimental Value in Best International Film. Sentimental Value's Stellan Skarsgard became the first Supporting Actor from an international film to be nominated in that category.
I wasn't too surprised by some of the admissions this year. One of the bigger ones was perhaps the no-show from Wicked: For Good. Last year, the first film was nominated for 10 Oscars, and the thought was that there would be enough juice left in that sequel to get Ariana Grande a nomination once again. But it wasn't to be. Avatar: Fire and Ash was also left out of the Best Picture conversation, despite its previous two entries being included.
If I were pressed, I would probably be most surprised by the lack of nomination for Paul Mescal for his performance in Hamnet. While Jesse Buckley undoubtedly is fuel for the success of that movie, Mescal's performance is certainly pivotal as well. I'm most disappointed by the performance of The Testament of Ann Lee, which was one of my favorite movies of 2025. I came out of that theater certain that Amanda Seyfried would be a frontrunner for Best Actress, but it didn't work out. Sometimes the business of the Oscars is about actually awarding the best performances. Other times its simply awarding the performances that had the best marketing campaign behind them.