Oscars 2026: All you need to know ahead of the biggest night in Hollywood
The biggest party in Hollywood is back, and we’re here to escort you all the way down the red carpet. Here's all you need to know ahead of the 98th Academy Awards.
In the big headlines ahead of Oscars 26, Irish actress Jessie Buckley is up for a gong, while vampire drama Sinners has made history as the first film ever to score 16 nods.
Buckley is recognised in the Best Actress category for her turn as Shakespeare’s wife Agnes Hathaway – historically known as Anne – in Hamnet.
She is widely considered the frontrunner having already secured a string of trophies including the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice award.
The film is an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel about the family life of the Bard and the death of his young son.
Buckley will compete against Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue, Emma Stone for Bugonia, and Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value.
Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s hit starring Michael B Jordan as twins, has scored a record 16 nominations, beating the record of 14 nominations shared by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land.
British-Nigerian star Wunmi Mosaku is nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the movie, while Jordan is nominated in the Best Actor category.
Mosaku will compete against Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value, Amy Madigan for Weapons and Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another.
Jordan will face off against frontrunner Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent.
Sinners is also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director for Coogler and Best Supporting Actor for London-born Delroy Lindo, as well as the Academy’s inaugural casting prize.
The other directing nominees are Chloe Zhao for Hamnet, Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme, Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value and Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another.
Zhao previously made history as the second woman – and the first woman of colour – to win the best director Oscar, for Nomadland in 2021.
Radiohead star Jonny Greenwood is nominated for his score for One Battle After Another. He was previously nominated for Phantom Thread and The Power Of The Dog.
Irish star Paul Mescal had been widely tipped to be nominated for an Oscar for his role in Hamnet but was missing from the Best Supporting Actor category.
Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn were both recognised in the category for One Battle After Another, alongside Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein, Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value and Lindo for Sinners.
Ariana Grande also missed out in the Best Supporting Actress category for her turn in Wicked: For Good.
One Battle After Another, Anderson’s film about a former revolutionary on a mission to save his teenage daughter, has scored 13 nominations, including Best Picture.
The other Best Picture contenders are Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Train Dreams, Marty Supreme and The Secret Agent.
The Academy Awards will be hosted by Conan O’Brien in Hollywood on March 15.
The ceremony will air on ITV, ITVX, STV and STV Player in the UK.
