sinners leads the 98th Academy Awards with a record 16 nominations, the most of any film this year. The nominations were announced ahead of tonight’s ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, which airs live at 7 p. m. ET. The breadth of nods places the film at the center of this year’s race across directing, acting and technical categories.
Sinners dominates the nominations list
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners set a new Academy benchmark with 16 nominations, surpassing the previous 14-nomination mark shared by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land. The film stars Michael B. Jordan and counts nominations for Coogler, Michael B. Jordan and Wunmi Mosaku in directing, writing and acting-related categories respectively. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another trailed closely with 13 nominations, including multiple acting nods for Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.
Warner Bros., which produced both Sinners and One Battle After Another, led all studios with 30 nominations. Netflix and Neon tied for second among studios with 18 nominations each. Other Best Picture nominees named for the 98th Academy Awards include Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams. The newly added Casting category lists Sinners and One Battle After Another among its nominees.
Reactions and key figures
Director Ryan Coogler said he “did not have any expectations” heading into awards season, framing the nominations as an unexpected high-water mark for his film. Sinners’ run has drawn attention from industry leaders and observers for its cultural grounding and technical ambition. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein received nine nominations but del Toro did not receive a directing nomination. Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value also received nine nominations, the most for any Norwegian film in Academy history.
Big-budget franchise entries fared unevenly: James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash earned two nominations, far fewer than earlier entries in that series. The nominations spread reflects both studio power and singular recognition for distinct artistic projects this year.
What to watch tonight at 7 p. m. ET
The 98th Academy Awards ceremony begins at 7 p. m. ET from the Dolby Theatre, with Conan O’Brien returning as host for the second consecutive year. Wins in the major categories — Best Picture, directing, leading and supporting acting — will determine whether Sinners converts its record nominations into trophies. Attention will also focus on how One Battle After Another fares across its 13 nods and whether films with multiple technical and casting nominations break through.
Winners will be revealed during the live broadcast at 7 p. m. ET; the industry will watch closely to see if sinners turns a record-setting nominations haul into historic Oscar success.
