On January 22, 2026 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their Oscar nominations of the top films of the past year. Arguably the highest award to receive in the film industry, the race to get an Oscar is highly competitive and requires a heavy amount of campaigning to even. receive a nomination.
Unsurprisingly, the nomination results stirred up conversations on the ones who did get nominated versus who some believe should have been nominated. Leading in total nominations is “Sinners” which now holds the record for most nominations in Academy history at 16, breaking the previous record held by “All About Eve”, “Titanic and “La La Land” of 14.
This victory adds on to the many successes that “Sinners” has achieved such as being one of the highest grossing original films of the decade and receiving so much attention from the Academy when they typically have had a strong habit of snubbing horror films in the past.
Falling behind “Sinners” is “One Battle After Another” with 13 nominations and “Marty Supreme”, “Frankenstein” and “Sentimental Value” all tied at nine nominations. Oscar nominations can be predicted through precursor awards such as the Golden Globe Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and The Actors Awards.
However, these nominations still led to many surprises. One of the major surprises of the nominations was “Wicked: For Good” receiving zero nominations. What made this snub so shocking was the fact that the first film “Wicked” had received 10 nominations and won two the year prior.
While the sequel did not reach the heights of the first film, to not even receive a nomination for best costume design or best original song has to be the biggest shock of the awards race. Other surprises from the nomination list include Paul Mescal not receiving a nomination for his role in “Hamnet”, Kate Hudson receiving a best actress nomination for her role in “Song Sung Blue” and “F1: The Movie” receiving a best picture nomination.
This year also marks the first year of the achievement in casting category which is the first category added to the Oscars since best animated feature in 2001.
While some races are already shaping up to have frontrunners such the best actress category which is being led by Jessie Buckley for her performance in “Hamnet” and Rose Byrne for her performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”, voting by the Academy doesn’t start until February 26 and goes until March 5, meaning there is plenty of time for different nominees to take the lead.
The ceremony will take place on March 15.
