2026 Academy Awards Nominations Get Golden

Awards season continues as major Hollywood movies fight it out to bag as many gold trophies as possible. Now, the war crescendos with the 2026 Academy Awards nomination, which was recently announced on January 22, 2026. KPop Demon Hunters landed on the list as the top ‘toon, but the year belongs to Sinners.

Keep reading to learn the complete list of Oscar nominations.

The 98th Academy Awards Nominations: Animation and Music Take Center Stage

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently revealed its nominations for the 98th Academy Awards. The announcement sparked excitement and intrigue among movie lovers and critics alike.

Sinners led with 16 nominations for its cast and crew. Still, the highlights were the animation and music categories, where KPop Demon Hunters dominate a stacked list of remarkably innovative and emotional films.

Netflix’s K-Pop drama got nominations for Animated Feature and Original Song, ensuring the film remains a permanent fixture in the Academy and Hollywood. These nominations should also keep the song “Golden” on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for another year.

Best Animated Feature Academy Awards Nominations

The Best Animated Feature category will always be contentious, given the Oscars’ history with animation. However, this year’s nominations are a tough competition between innovative major studio productions and acclaimed independent works.

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

Best Animated Short Film

The Animated Short Film nominees are equally concise and experimental, with rich international artistic expressions.

• Butterfly (France) by Florence Miailhe
• Forevergreen (U.S.) by Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears
• The Girl Who Cried Pearls (Canada) by Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski
• Retirement Plan (Ireland) by John Kelly
• The Three Sisters (Russia) by Konstantin Bronzit

Best in Visual FX

While it’s not talked about much among animation fans, these Visual FX nominees show how well animation and live action can work together:

• Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios, Wētā FX, ILM)
• F1 (Apple TV, Warner Bros, Framestore, ILM, Red VFX, Lola VFX, Metaphysic)
• Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal, ILM, Important Looking Pirates)
• The Lost Bus (Apple TV,  beloFX, Cinesite, ILM, RISE, Outpost VFX, Vitality Visual Effects, Mist VFX, Host VFX)
• Sinners (Warner Bros, Storm Studios, Rising Sun Pictures, ILM, Baraboom Studios, Light VFX, Base FX, Outpost VFX)

The 2026 Academy Awards Nominations for Soundtracks

While Demon Hunters grabbed the nomination for Best Song, the movie failed to land on the Score list. That allowed Sinners to hold both. However, they face stiff competition from the other 2026 Academy Awards nominations in the soundtrack races.

Best Original Song

Here are the Best Song nominees:

• “Dear Me,” – Diane Warren: Relentless
• “Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters
• I Lied to You” – Sinners
• “Sweet Dreams of Joy” – Viva Verdi!
• “Train Dreams” – Train Dreams 

Best Original Score

Here are the Score nominations:

• Bugonia – Jerskin Fendrix
• Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat
• Hamnet – Max Richter
• One Battle After Another – Jonny Greenwood
• Sinners – Ludwig Göransson

The Other 2026 Academy Awards Nominations

The rest of the Oscar categories are basically Sinners’ territory as the Academy snubs animation once again. Luckily, the 2026 Academy Awards nominations are a worthy mix of genres and performances. Plus, the Academy Awards made history this year by shattering their record for most nominations for a single film with the 18 they gave to Sinners.

Best Picture

While the other Oscar categories have only five nominees, the coveted Best Picture Oscar has 10.

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

Best International Feature

These international hits seem safe but interesting:

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

Best Live-Action Short

These are some weird topics for Best Short this year:

• Butcher’s Stain
• A Friend of Dorothy
• Jane Austen’s Period Drama
• The Singers
• Two People Exchanging Saliva

Best Documentary Feature 2026 Academy Awards Nominations

For something inspirational, you can check out some of these films:

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

Best Documentary Short

These short documentaries are interesting too:

• 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

Best Director 2026 Academy Awards Nominations

These are some fine directors on this list:

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

Best Leading Actor

Who do you think deserves the Best Actor award?

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

Best Leading Actress

What about Actress?

• Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
• Rose Byrn – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
• Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
• Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
• Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Supporting Actor

These are the Best Supporting Actor nominations:

• 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

Which actress had the best supporting role?

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

Best Original Screenplay 2026 Academy Awards Nominations

Which of these films do you think had the best writing?

• Robert Kaplow – Blue Moon
• Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
• Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
• Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Best Adapted Screenplay

Which of the following was the best movie adaptation?

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

Best Casting

These casting directors were nominated for the newest Oscar category:

• Nina Gold – Hamnet
• Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme
• Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another
• Gabriel Domingues – The Secret Agent
• Francine Maisler – Sinners

Best Film Editing

Which movie had the best edits?

• Stephen Mirrione – F1
• Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Andy Jurgensen – One Battle After Another
• Olivier Bugge Coutté – Sentimental Value
• Michael P. Shawver – Sinners

Best Cinematography

These movies claim to have the best camera shots:

• Dan Laustsen – Frankenstein
• Darius Khondji – Marty Supreme
• Michael Bauman – One Battle After Another
• Autumn Durald Arkapaw – Sinners
• Adolpho Veloso – Train Dreams

Best Production Design 2026 Academy Awards Nominations

Who was the best film producer?

• Tamara Deverell, Shan Vieau – Frankenstein
• Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton – Hamnet
• Jack Fisk, Adam Willis – Marty Supreme
• Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – One Battle After Another
• Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne – Sinners

Best Costume Design

Which of these films had the best-looking characters?

• Deborah L. Scott – Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Kate Hawley –Frankenstein
• Malgosia Turzanska – Hamnet
• Miyako Bellizzi – Marty Supreme
• Ruth E. Carter – Sinners

Best Makeup and Hairstyle

These films were nominated for Best Hair:

• Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey – Frankenstein
• Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino, Tadashi Nishimatsu – Kokuho
• Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry – Sinners
• Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin, Bjoern Rehbein – The Smashing Machine
• Thomas Foldberg, Anne Cathrine Sauerberg – The Ugly Stepsister

Best Sound

Which of these films had the best sound?

• Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta – F1
• Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern – Frankenstein
• José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflo – One Battle After Another
• Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker – Sinners
• Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, Yasmina Praderas – Sirât

2026 Lifetime Achievement Academy Awards Winners

Besides the voting categories, the Academy will hand out these four lifetime achievement awards:

• Tom Cruise – Academy Honorary Award
• Debbie Allen – Academy Honorary Award
• Wynn Thomas – Academy Honorary Award
• Dolly Parton – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

When will the 2026 Academy Awards Air?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hold the 96^th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026. Conan O’Brien is returning to host the event, which will take place at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

ABC will air the event live at 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific. However, you will also be able to stream the Academy Awards live on Hulu.

You also have time to sway the vote. The Academy won’t begin voting until February 26, 2026. However, you have to do it before the voting ends on March 5.

Final Thoughts

The 2026 Academy Awards nominations have something for everyone. I wish animated films were more represented, but I’m not complaining with such a stacked eligibility class.

With the high number of nominations, Sinners will likely win most of them. As for the others? Let the best films win!

How about you? What’s your opinion on these nominations? Post your thoughts in the forums or the comments below.