The highly anticipated 98th Academy Awards is just around the curb, but the buzz for Oscar 2026 nominations is already in full swing! With a stellar lineup of films released in 2025, from groundbreaking dramas to critically acclaimed indies, the race for the golden statue promises to be one an exciting one. Let’s delve into the final list of nominees who might earn a coveted spot on the Oscar 2026 nomination list.Best Picture ‘Bugonia’‘F1’‘Frankenstein’‘Hamnet’‘Marty Supreme’‘One Battle After Another’‘The Secret Agent’‘Sentimental Value’‘Sinners’‘Train Dreams’The Best Picture category is always the most fiercely contested. This year, several films have already garnered significant attention, making them strong contenders for a nomination. The following are the frontrunners.Best Director Chloé Zhao, ‘Hamnet’Josh Safdie, ‘Marty Supreme’Paul Thomas Anderson, ‘One Battle After Another’Joachim Trier, ‘Sentimental Value’Ryan Coogler, ‘Sinners’The helmers behind these cinematic achievements are equally celebrated. The Best Director category often mirrors the Best Picture nominations, but there are always surprises.The individual performance categories are always a highlight. Here are some of the actors and actresses generating significant Oscar buzz:Leading ActressJessie Buckley, ‘Hamnet’Rose Byrne, ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’Kate Hudson, ‘Song Sung Blue’Renate Reinsve, ‘Sentimental Value’Emma Stone, ‘Bugonia’Leading ActorTimothée Chalamet, ‘Marty Supreme’Leonardo DiCaprio, ‘One Battle After Another’Ethan Hawke, ‘Blue Moon’Michael B. Jordan, ‘Sinners’Wagner Moura, ‘The Secret Agent’Best Supporting ActressElle Fanning, ‘Sentimental Value’Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, ‘Sentimental Value’Amy Madigan, ‘Weapons’Wunmi Mosaku, ‘Sinners’Teyana Taylor, ‘One Battle After Another’Best Supporting ActorBenicio del Toro, ‘One Battle After Another’Jacob Elordi, ‘Frankenstein’Delroy Lindo, ‘Sinners’Sean Penn, ‘One Battle After Another’Stellan Skarsgård, ‘Sentimental Value’Best Original Screenplay‘Blue Moon’, Robert Kaplow‘It Was Just an Accident’, Jafar Panahi‘Marty Supreme’, Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein‘Sentimental Value’, Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt‘Sinners’, Ryan CooglerBest Adapted Screenplay‘Bugonia’, Will Tracy‘Frankenstein’, Guillermo del Toro‘Hamnet’, Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell‘One Battle After Another’, Paul Thomas Anderson‘Train Dreams’, Clint Bentley and Greg KwedarBest Cinematography‘Frankenstein’, Dan Laustsen‘Marty Supreme’, Darius Khondji‘One Battle after Another’, Michael Bauman‘Sinners’, Autumn Durald Arkapaw‘Train Dreams’, Adolpho VelosoBest Production Design‘Frankenstein’‘Hamnet’‘Marty Supreme’‘One Battle’‘Sinners’Best Original Score‘Bugonia’‘Frankenstein’‘Hamnet’‘One Battle After Another’‘Sinners’Best Original song‘Dear Me’ from ‘Diane Warren: Relentless’‘Golden’ from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’‘I Lied To You’ from ‘Sinners’‘Sweet Dreams Of Joy’ from ‘Viva Verdi!’‘Train Dreams’ from ‘Train Dreams’Best International Feature Film‘It Was Just an Accident’ (France)‘The Secret Agent’ (Brazil)‘Sentimental Value’ (Norway)‘Sirât’ (Spain)‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ (Tunisia)Best Animated feature‘Arco’‘Elio’‘KPop Demon Hunters’‘Little Amélie or the Character of Rain’‘Zootopia 2’Best Animated short‘Butterfly’‘Forevergreen’‘The Girl Who Cried Pearls’‘Retirement Plan’‘The Three Sisters’Best Documentary feature‘The Alabama Solution’‘Come See Me in the Good Light’‘Cutting through Rocks’‘Mr. Nobody against Putin’‘The Perfect Neighbor’Best Documentary short‘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 Costume design‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, Deborah L. Scott‘Frankenstein’, Kate Hawley‘Hamnet’, Malgosia Turzanska‘Marty Supreme’, Miyako Bellizzi‘Sinners’, Ruth E. CarterBest Film editing‘F1’, Stephen Mirrione‘Marty Supreme’, Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie‘One Battle after Another’, Andy Jurgensen‘Sentimental Value’, Olivier Bugge Coutté‘Sinners’, Michael P. ShawverBest Live-action short‘Butcher’s Stain’‘A Friend of Dorothy’‘Jane Austen’s Period Drama’‘The Singers’‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’Best Makeup and hairstyling‘Kokuho’‘Frankenstein’‘Sinners’‘Smashing Machine’‘The Ugly Stepsister’Best Sound‘F1’‘Frankenstein’‘One Battle after Another’‘Sinners’‘Sirât’Best Visual Effects‘Avatar’‘F1’‘Jurassic World Rebirth’‘Lost Bus’‘Sinners’Best Casting (New category introduced this year)‘Hamnet’‘Marty Supreme’‘Sinners’‘The Secret Agent’‘One Battle After Another’The 2026 Oscars will be hosted by Conan O’Brien for the second consecutive year. The ceremony celebrating cinema will be aired live on ABC and Hulu from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 15, at 4 pm PT.
