Oscars 2026: Sinners Makes History; Wicked Completely Shut Out
The 2026 Oscar nominations are in—and they're heavy on vampires (Sinners), low on witches (Wicked: For Good). Learn what major genre contenders will be competing for Academy gold at this year's ceremony.
The Oscar 2026 nominations are officially in—and they're heavy on the vampires, low on witches.
Ryan Cooger's bloodsucking period drama Sinners made history with an impressive 16 nods, which, surpasses the previous record of 14 held by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land. It's a notable milestone for the horror genre, which has often been flat-out ignored by the Academy in favor of what is considered to be more respectable cinema.
Oscar 2026 nominations: Sinners, Frankenstein, Weapons, and Avatar 3
Featuring Michael B. Jordan as identical twin brothers attempting to open a successful juke joint for Black patrons in Depression-era Mississippi (only for the place to be overrun by vampires on opening night), Sinners is up for coveted prizes such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.
Other genre contenders are Zac Cregger's Weapons, whose single nod for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is incredibly well-deserved. After all, Amy Madigan's iconic turn as Aunt Gladys was a defining cultural moment for 2025, and could not be ignored.
Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, meanwhile, nabbed nine nominations for Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Jacob Elordi), Adapted Screenplay (del Toro), Costume Design (Kate Hawley), Makeup and Hairstyling (Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey), Original Score (Alexandre Desplat), Cinematography (Dan Lausten), Production Design (Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau), and Sound (Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern).
Naturally, Avatar: Fire and Ash was recognized in the Visual Effects category (Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett), which also includes Sinners and Jurassic World Rebirth. James Cameron's third trip to Pandora also managed a shoutout for Costume Design (Deborah L. Scott).
The Best Animated Feature hopefuls are Elio, Arco, KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2.
Did Wicked: For Good get any Oscar nominations?
Surprisingly, Jon M. Chu's Wicked: For Good failed to snag a single Oscar nomination—not even for lead stars Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (Glinda). This stands in stark contrast for Wicked: Part One, which landed 10 nods, including one for Best Picture. The first entry ended up taking home two golden statues for Costume Design (Paul Tazewell), Production Design (Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales).
Other shocking snubs include Paul Mescal, who earned recognition for his role in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet at the Golden Globes and Actor Awards. Nevertheless, the Amblin-produced Hamnet still collected eight nominations, making Steven Spielberg the most nominated producer in history with 14 nods. Elsewhere, Jennifer Lawrence’s performance in Die, My Love and Miley Cyrus’ campaign for Best Original Song in Avatar also failed to score any Academy recognition.
And while Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another earned 13 nominations—including Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Teyana Taylor)—Chase Infiniti was noticeably absent from the list.
How to watch the 2026 Oscars
The 98th Academy Awards will take place Sunday, March 15 at 7 p..m. ET. Viewers can tune in via ABC or Hulu.
The complete list of this year's nominees can be found here.
