Oscars 2026: List of award categories and nominees for the 98th Academy Awards

The 98th Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will take place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony will honor the best achievements in films released during 2025 and will be hosted by Conan O'Brien. This year’s awards will be presented in competitive categories, including the debut of a new award for Best Casting.

Below is an overview of the major Oscar categories and their nominees, highlighting the films and performers competing for Hollywood’s most prestigious honor.

Best Picture

The Best Picture category includes ten films that represent the most outstanding cinematic achievements of the year.


Nominees:

• Bugonia
• F1
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• The Secret Agent
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners
• Train Dreams
  

Among these, Sinners emerged as a dominant contender with a record-breaking 16 nominations, making it one of the most nominated films in Oscar history.

Best Director

This category recognizes filmmakers whose vision and direction shaped the year’s most acclaimed movies.

Nominees:

• Chloé Zhao – Hamnet
• Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
• Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
• Ryan Coogler – Sinners
  

Best Actor in a Leading Role

The Best Actor category highlights some of the most powerful performances of the year.

Nominees:

• Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
• Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
• Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
• Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
  

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Several acclaimed performers are competing in the Best Actress category.

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
  

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees:

• Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo – Sinners
• Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value
  

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees:

• Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan – Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
• Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
  

Best Animated Feature Film

• Arco
• Elio
• KPop Demon Hunters
• Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
• Zootopia 2
  

Music (Original Song)

• “Dear Me” – Diane Warren: Relentless, Diane Warren
• “Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters, EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Teddy Park
• “I Lied to You” – Sinners, Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson
• “Sweet Dreams of Joy” – Viva Verdi!, Nicholas Pike
• “Train Dreams” – Train Dreams, Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominees include:

• Bugonia – Will Tracy
• Frankenstein – Guillermo del Toro
• Hamnet – Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
• One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
• Train Dreams – Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
  

Best Original Screenplay

Major contenders include films such as Sinners, Blue Moon, It Was Just an Accident, Marty Supreme and Sentimental Value.

Technical and craft categories

Several awards recognize technical excellence in filmmaking, including:

• Cinematography – nominees include Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Train Dreams.
  
• Production Design – featuring films such as Hamnet, Frankenstein, and Sinners, Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another.
  
  
• Film Editing – with nominations for F1, Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value, One Battle After Another and Sinners.
  
• Sound – including F1, Frankenstein, One Battle After Another, Sinners and Sirāt.
  

Documentary and international film categories

The Academy also recognizes global storytelling through categories such as Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film.

Documentary Feature Film

• The Alabama Solution
• Come See Me in the Good Light
• Cutting Through Rocks
• Mr. Nobody Against Putin
• The Perfect Neighbor
  

International Feature Film

• Brazil – The Secret Agent
• France – It Was Just an Accident
• Norway – Sentimental Value
• Spain – Sirāt
• Tunisia – The Voice of Hind Rajab
  

The Oscars 2026 nominations highlight a diverse range of films spanning blockbuster productions, independent cinema, and international storytelling. With record nominations for Sinners and strong competition from films like One Battle After Another, Hamnet, and Frankenstein, the 98th Academy Awards are expected to be one of the most closely watched ceremonies in recent years.