Sinners has received a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations, but who leads the race for the 2026 Academy Awards?
Honouring the films of the last year, Sinners has received a historic haul of nominations, but there is close competition.
Film News Blitz’s Nisha Cullen breaks down Sinners‘ record moment and examines the frontrunners this year.
Sinners’ extraordinary success beats the previous Oscar nominee record holders, All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016), all of which received 14 nominations.
One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, follows with 13 nominations and is another Oscar frontrunner in 2026.
Marty Supreme, Frankenstein and Sentimental Value have each received nine nominations, and Hamnet is close behind them with eight nominations.
Who will win at the 2026 Oscars?
With 16 nominations, there is no doubt that Ryan Coogler’s Sinners will take home at least a couple of awards, but, with such a star-studded list of nominees, there will definitely be some awards that could go to anyone at this year’s Oscars.
Its main competitor across the marquee categories, including best picture and best director, will surely be Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which has been an awards darling so far this year.
In the acting categories, Timothée Chalamet is the favourite to pick up the best actor award for his career-best performance in Marty Supreme, and if Jessie Buckley doesn’t win for her heartbreaking turn in Hamnet, the bookies will have a field day.
Snubs and surprises from the 2026 Oscar nominations
There were no nominations for One Battle After Another’s breakout star, Chase Infiniti, while Bugonia’s Jesse Plemons also missed out on a nomination.
Meanwhile, F1: The Movie picked up a surprising nomination for best picture.
Who has been nominated for best picture at the 2026 Oscars?
While we know that One Battle After Another and Sinners are the frontrunners for best picture, with the F1: The Movie hail mary nominated as well, several other films have also been nominated for the biggest prize at this year’s Oscars.
They include Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet and Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme.
The 2026 Oscar nominations in full:
Actor in a leading role
- Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme
- Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle after Another
- Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon
- Michael B. Jordan for Sinners
- Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent
Actress in a leading role
- Jessie Buckley for Hamnet
- Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
- Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue
- Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value
- Emma Stone for Bugonia
Actor in a supporting role
- Benicio Del Toro for One Battle after Another
- Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein
- Delroy Lind for Sinners
- Sean Penn for One Battle after Another
- Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value
Actress in a supporting role
- Elle Fanning for Sentimental Value
- Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan for Weapons
- Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners
- Teyana Taylor for One Battle after Another
Best Picture
- Bugonia
- F1: The Movie
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle after Another
- The Secret Agent
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
- Train Dreams
Writing for an adapted screenplay
- Bugonia – screenplay by Will Tracy
- Frankenstein – screenplay by Guillermo del Toro
- Hamnet – screenplay by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell
- One Battle after Another – screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson
- Train Dreams – screenplay by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
Writing for an original screenplay
- Blue Moon – screenplay by Robert Kaplow
- It Was Just an Accident – screenplay by Jafar Panahi with Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, and Mehdi Mahmoudian as script collaborators
- Marty Supreme – screenplay by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
- Sentimental Value – screenplay by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier
- Sinners – screenplay by Ryan Coogler
Directing
- Hamnet – Chloé Zhao
- Marty Supreme – Josh Safdie
- One Battle after Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
- Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier
- Sinners – Ryan Coogler
Animated feature film
- Arco
- Elio
- Kpop Demon Hunters
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
- Zootropolis 2
Animated Short Film
- Butterfly
- Forevergreen
- The Girl Who Cried Pearls
- Retirement Plan
- The Three Sisters
Documentary Feature Film
- The Alabama Solution
- Come See Me in the Good Light
- Cutting through Rocks
- Mr. Nobody against Putin
- The Perfect Neighbour
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
Live Action Short Film
- Butcher’s Stain
- A Friend of Dorothy
- Jane Austen’s Period Drama
- The Singers
- Two People Exchanging Saliva
International Feature Film
- The Secret Agent (Brazil)
- It Was Just An Accident (France)
- Sentimental Value (Norway)
- Sirāt (Spain)
- The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)
Original Score
- Bugonia – Jerskin Fendrix
- Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat
- Hamnet – Max Richter
- One Battle after Another – Jonny Greenwood
- Sinners – Ludwig Goransson
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 Seo and Teddy Park
- I Lied To You from Sinners. Music and lyrics by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
- Sweet Dreams Of Joy from Viva Verdi! Music and lyrics by Nicholas Pike
- Train Dreams from Train Dreams. Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, lyrics by Nick Cave
Casting
- Hamnet – Nina Gold
- Marty Supreme – Jennifer Venditti
- One Battle after Another – Cassandra Kulukundis
- The Secret Agent – Gabriel Domingues
- Sinners – Francine Maisler
Cinematography
- Frankenstein – Dan Laustsen
- Marty Supreme – Darius Khondji
- One Battle after Another – Michael Bauman
- Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
- Train Dreams – Adolpho Veloso
Visual Effects
- Avatar: Fire and Ash – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
- F1: The Movie – Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
- Jurassic World Rebirth – David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
- The Lost Bus – Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
- Sinners – Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean
Production design
- Frankenstein – with production design by Tamara Deverell and set decoration by Shane Vieau
- Hamnet – with production design by Fiona Crombie and set decoration by Alice Felton
- Marty Supreme – with production design by Jack Fisk and set decoration by Adam Willis
- One Battle after Another – with production design by Florencia Martin and set decoration by Anthony Carlino
- Sinners – with production design by Hannah Beachler and set decoration by Monique Champagne
Film editing
- F1: The Movie – Stephen Mirrione
- Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
- One Battle after Another – Andy Jurgensen
- Sentimental Value – Olivier Bugge Coutté
- Sinners – Michael P. Shawver
Costume design
- Avatar: Fire and Ash – Deborah L. Scott
- Frankenstein – Kate Hawley
- Hamnet – Malgosia Turzanska
- Marty Supreme – Miyako Bellizzi
- Sinners – Ruth E. Carter
Makeup and hairstyling
- Frankenstein – Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
- Kokuho – Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
- Sinners – Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
- The Smashing Machine – Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
- The Ugly Stepsister – Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg
Sound
- F1: The Movie – Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
- Frankenstein – Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
- One Battle after Another – José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
- Sinners – Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
- Sirāt – Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas