By Itoro N. Umontuen
Black Press USA
(NNPA Newswire) – Ryan Coogler’s “”Sinners”” emerged as the biggest contender at the 98th Academy Awards, earning a historic 16 nominations—more than any movie has ever received in Oscar history. The announcement was made Jan. 22 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
With this achievement, “Sinners” surpassed the long-standing record of 14 nominations previously held by classics such as “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” In addition to a Best Picture nod, Coogler secured nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The film’s leading man, Michael B. Jordan, also reached a career milestone, receiving his first-ever Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Coogler’s recognition is particularly significant, as he becomes one of only seven Black filmmakers to be nominated for Best Director. He joins an influential group that includes Spike Lee (“Do the Right Thing”), John Singleton (“Boyz n the Hood”), Lee Daniels (“Precious”), Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”), Barry Jenkins (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), and Jordan Peele (“Nope”).
Trailing closely behind “Sinners” is “One Battle After Another,” a provocative exploration of radical political movements that garnered 13 nominations. Both films are among the Best Picture contenders for the 2026 Oscars, alongside “Frankenstein,” “Bugonia,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “Sentimental Value,” “Train Dreams,” “F1,” and “The Secret Agent.”
The Best Actor race is especially competitive this year. Michael B. Jordan faces off against Timothée Chalamet, whose unconventional promotional campaign helped turn “Marty Supreme” into A24’s highest-grossing release. Also nominated are Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon,” and Wagner Moura, fresh off a Golden Globe win for “The Secret Agent.”
In the Best Supporting Actress category, “Sentimental Value” earned two nominations for Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. They are joined by Amy Madigan (“Weapons”), Wunmi Mosaku (“Sinners”), and Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”).
The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will be broadcast on ABC and streamed live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15. Conan O’Brien is set to return as host for the second consecutive year.
A full list of this year’s Oscar nominees follows.
Best Picture
“Bugonia” (Focus Features); Ed Guiney & Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, Producers
“F1” (Apple); Chad Oman, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
“Frankenstein” (Netflix); Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, Producers
“Hamnet” (Focus Features); Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Producers
“Marty Supreme” (A24); Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas and Timothée Chalamet, Producers
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.); Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
“The Secret Agent” (Neon); Emilie Lesclaux, Producer
“Sentimental Value” (Neon); Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Producers
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Producers
“Train Dreams” (Netflix); Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, Producers
Best Director
“Hamnet” (Focus Features), Chloé Zhao
“Marty Supreme” (A24), Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.), Paul Thomas Anderson
“Sentimental Value” (Neon), Joachim Trier
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.), Ryan Coogler
Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme” (A24)
Leonardo DiCaprio in “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Michael B. Jordan in “Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
Wagner Moura in “The Secret Agent” (Neon)
Best Actress
Jessie Buckley in “Hamnet” (Focus Features)
Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24)
Kate Hudson in “Song Sung Blue” (Focus Features)
Renate Reinsve in “Sentimental Value” (Neon)
Emma Stone in “Bugonia” (Focus Features)
Best Supporting Actor
Benicio Del Toro in “One Battle After” Another (Warner Bros.)
Jacob Elordi in “Frankenstein” (Netflix)
Delroy Lindo in “Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
Sean Penn in “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Stellan Skarsgard in “Sentimental Value” (Neon)
Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning in “Sentimental Value” (Neon)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in “Sentimental Value” (Neon)
Amy Madigan in “Weapons” (Warner Bros.)
Wunmi Mosaku in “Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
Teyana Taylor in “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Bugonia” (Focus Features); Screenplay by Will Tracy
“Frankenstein” (Netflix); Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro
“Hamnet” (Focus Features); Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.); Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
“Train Dreams” (Netflix); Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
Best Original Screenplay
“Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Robert Kaplow
“It Was Just an Accident” (Neon); Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
“Marty Supreme” (A24); Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
“Sentimental Value” (Neon); Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Written by Ryan Coogler
Best Animated Feature
“Arco” (Neon); Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
“Elio” (Walt Disney); Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
“KPop Demon Hunters” (Netflix); Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” (GKIDS); Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
“Zootopia 2” (Walt Disney); Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino
Best International Feature
Brazil, “The Secret Agent”
France, “It Was Just an Accident”
Norway, “Sentimental Value”
Spain, “Sirat”
Tunisia, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”
Best Documentary Feature
“The Alabama Solution” (HBO Documentary Films); Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
“Come See Me in the Good Light” (Apple); Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
“Cutting Through Rocks;” Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” (PINK); Nominees to be determined
“The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix); Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee
Best Animated Short
“Butterfly” (Sacrebleu Productions); Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens
Forevergreen; Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
“The Girl Who Cried Pearls” (National Film Board of Canada); Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
“Retirement Plan;” John Kelly and Andrew Freedman
“The Three Sisters” (Polydont Films/Rymanco Ventures); Konstantin Bronzit
Best Casting
Hamnet (Focus Features); Nina Gold
Marty Supreme (A24); Jennifer Venditti
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Cassandra Kulukundis
The Secret Agent (Neon); Gabriel Domingues
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Francine Maisler
Best Cinematography
“Frankenstein” (Netflix), Dan Laustsen
“Marty Supreme” (A24), Darius Khondji
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.), Michael Bauman
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.), Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams (Netflix), Adolpho Veloso
Best Costume Design
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” (Walt Disney); Deborah L. Scott
“Frankenstein” (Netflix); Kate Hawley
“Hamnet” (Focus Features); Malgosia Turzanska
“Marty Supreme” (A24); Miyako Bellizzi
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Ruth E. Carter
Best Documentary Short
“All the Empty Rooms” (Netflix); Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
“Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” (HBO); Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
“Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” (Sky); Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins
“The Devil Is Busy” (HBO); Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
“Perfectly a Strangeness” (Second Sight Pictures); Alison McAlpine
Best Film Editing
“F1” (Apple); Stephen Mirrione
“Marty Supreme (A24); Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.); Andy Jurgensen
“Sentimental Value” (Neon); Olivier Bugge Coutté
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Michael P. Shawver
Best Live-Action Short
“Butcher’s Stain” (Tel Aviv University Steve Tisch School of Film and Television); Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
“A Friend of Dorothy;” Lee Knight and James Dean
“Jane Austen’s Period Drama;” Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
“The Singers” (Netflix); Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt
“Two People Exchanging Saliva” (Canal+/The New Yorker); Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Frankenstein” (Netflix); Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
“Kokuho” (GKIDS); Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
“The Smashing Machine” (A24); Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
“The Ugly Stepsister” (Independent Film Company/Shudder); Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg
Best Original Score
“Bugonia” (Focus Features); Jerskin Fendrix
“Frankenstein” (Netflix); Alexandre Desplat
“Hamnet” (Focus Features); Max Richter
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.); Jonny Greenwood
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Ludwig Goransson
Best Original Song
“Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless (MasterClass/Greenwich Entertainment); Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); 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” (Warner Bros.); Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! (Viva Verdi!); Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams (Netflix); Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, Lyric by Nick Cave
Best Production Design
“Frankenstein” (Netflix); Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
“Hamnet” (Focus Features); Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
“Marty Supreme” (A24); Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne
Best Sound
“F1” (Apple) Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
“Frankenstein” (Netflix) Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.); José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.); Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
“Sirat” (Neon); Amanda Vil
Best Visual Effects
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” (Walt Disney); Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
“F1” (Apple); Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal); David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
“The Lost Bus” (Apple); Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.) Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean