2026 Oscar Nominations: Initial Thoughts

‘Sinners’ making history, ‘F1’ breaking into Best Picture … and Kate Hudson?

This morning, the Academy announced the nominees for the 98th Oscars, with winners to be announced on Sunday, March 15 starting at 7PM Eastern. For those who know me, you know I’m a degenerate gambler when it comes to the Oscars and will share my predictions in each category closer to the ceremony. For now, here is a full list of the nominees with my initial thoughts on some of the bigger name categories.

BEST PICTURE

NOMINEES

  • BUGONIA
  • F1
  • FRANKENSTEIN
  • HAMNET
  • MARTY SUPREME
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
  • THE SECRET AGENT
  • SENTIMENTAL VALUE
  • SINNERS
  • TRAIN DREAMS

THOUGHTS

Not a ton of surprises here. I suppose the Academy was never going to nominate three international films for Best Picture, yet no It Was Just An Accident is disappointing. I’m generally a fan of the Academy recognizing and awarding mainstream, crowd-pleasing Hollywood blockbusters with Best Picture nominations, but F1 is a little shocking here. I liked the movie, it’s entertaining enough, but years from now when people watch it, seeing it was nominated for Best Picture, I’m sure they will go … really? That?

DIRECTING

NOMINEES

  • HAMNET – Chloé Zhao
  • MARTY SUPREME – Josh Safdie
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Paul Thomas Anderson
  • SENTIMENTAL VALUE – Joachim Trier
  • SINNERS – Ryan Coogler

THOUGHTS

More than most years, I feel this field of nominees for Directing shows which films are actually in contention for Best Picture. No surprises.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

  • TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET – Marty Supreme
  • LEONARDO DICAPRIO – One Battle after Another
  • ETHAN HAWKE – Blue Moon
  • MICHAEL B. JORDAN – Sinners
  • WAGNER MOURA – The Secret Agent

THOUGHTS

Michael B. Jordan is a bit of a surprise here, but with ‘Sinners’ setting a record for most nominations for a single movie of all time, it seems inevitable that he would have benefited from the industry’s adoration for that film.

Which I might as well address now, I like ‘Sinners’, it’s a good movie, but I find myself a touch baffled at just how acclaimed it has become. The vampire musical period piece is the most nominated film in Oscars history? That’s stunning to me. I’m sure that distinction is going to result in more backlash than is justified, but I’ll be curious to follow the film’s path to the Oscars.

All this being said, I would have loved to see a nomination for Jesse Plemons from Bugonia in Jordan’s place.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

  • BENICIO DEL TORO – One Battle after Another
  • JACOB ELORDI – Frankenstein
  • DELROY LINDO – Sinners
  • SEAN PENN – One Battle after Another
  • STELLAN SKARSGÅRD – Sentimental Value

THOUGHTS

The biggest snub here is Paul Mescal from Hamnet, who seems to have just missed the cut in favor of Delroy Lindo from Sinners. While I may have bigger issues with ‘Sinners’’ overall bevy of nominations, this isn’t one of them. I thought Lindo was the best performance in the film, and he has had such an illustrious career that it’s about time he gets an Oscar nomination.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

  • 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

THOUGHTS

I guess I should probably see Song Sung Blue to evaluate Kate Hudson, given her surprise nomination here. I’ve thus far avoided that movie, feeling like the story of a Neil Diamond cover band is just not for me, but I’ll try to go in open minded. Hudson’s nomination here comes at the expense of Chase Infiniti from One Battle After Another, though I was always a little confused by Infiniti’s frontrunner status in this category. She gives a strong performance, sure, but this category is filled with strong performances from powerhouse actresses, that to think a nomination was a given for anybody felt unearned.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

  • ELLE FANNING – Sentimental Value
  • INGA IBSDOTTER LILLEAAS – Sentimental Value
  • AMY MADIGAN – Weapons
  • WUNMI MOSAKU – Sinners
  • TEYANA TAYLOR – One Battle after Another

THOUGHTS

While Wunmi Mosaku is probably the biggest surprise in this category, I’d like to instead focus on the great Amy Madigan scoring an Oscar nomination for her memorable role in Weapons. She might have a slim chance at winning, but I’m thrilled to see her nominated.

Attention is also due to Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, joining their two costars Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård as Oscar nominees from Sentimental Value. It’s rare that a movie gets four different acting Oscar nominations, and extremely rare for all of them to be deserved.

CASTING

NOMINEES

  • HAMNET
  • MARTY SUPREME
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
  • THE SECRET AGENT
  • SINNERS

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

  • ARCO
  • ELIO
  • KPOP DEMON HUNTERS
  • LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN
  • ZOOTOPIA 2

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

  • THE ALABAMA SOLUTION
  • COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT
  • CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS
  • MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN
  • THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

  • BRAZIL – The Secret Agent
  • FRANCE – It Was Just an Accident
  • NORWAY – Sentimental Value
  • SPAIN – Sirāt
  • TUNISIA – The Voice of Hind Rajab

FILM EDITING

NOMINEES

  • 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

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

NOMINEES

  • BUGONIA – Jerskin Fendrix
  • FRANKENSTEIN – Alexandre Desplat
  • HAMNET – Max Richter
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Jonny Greenwood
  • SINNERS – Ludwig Goransson

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

NOMINEES

  • DEAR ME from Diane Warren: Relentless; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
  • GOLDEN from KPop Demon Hunters; Music and Lyric 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 Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
  • SWEET DREAMS OF JOY from Viva Verdi!; Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
  • TRAIN DREAMS from Train Dreams; Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

  • FRANKENSTEIN – Dan Laustsen
  • MARTY SUPREME – Darius Khondji
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Michael Bauman
  • SINNERS – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
  • TRAIN DREAMS – Adolpho Veloso

COSTUME DESIGN

NOMINEES

  • AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH – Deborah L. Scott
  • FRANKENSTEIN – Kate Hawley
  • HAMNET – Malgosia Turzanska
  • MARTY SUPREME – Miyako Bellizzi
  • SINNERS – Ruth E. Carter

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

NOMINEES

  • FRANKENSTEIN
  • KOKUHO
  • SINNERS
  • THE SMASHING MACHINE
  • THE UGLY STEPSISTER

PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES

  • FRANKENSTEIN
  • HAMNET
  • MARTY SUPREME
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
  • SINNERS

SOUND

NOMINEES

  • F1
  • FRANKENSTEIN
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
  • SINNERS
  • SIRĀT

VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES

  • AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH
  • F1
  • JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH
  • THE LOST BUS
  • SINNERS

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

  • BUGONIA
  • FRANKENSTEIN
  • HAMNET
  • ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
  • TRAIN DREAMS

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

  • BLUE MOON
  • IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
  • MARTY SUPREME
  • SENTIMENTAL VALUE
  • SINNERS

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

  • THE ALABAMA SOLUTION
  • COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT
  • CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS
  • MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN
  • THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

NOMINEES

  • BUTTERFLY
  • FOREVERGREEN
  • THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS
  • RETIREMENT PLAN
  • THE THREE SISTERS

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

NOMINEES

  • 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

NOMINEES

  • BUTCHER’S STAIN
  • A FRIEND OF DOROTHY
  • JANE AUSTEN’S PERIOD DRAMA
  • THE SINGERS
  • TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA