Having grossed practically $370 million worldwide, Sinners crammed Warner Bros coffers when most of the studio’s key 2025 movies misplaced cash, and deserves its many Oscar nominations, asserts Aseem Chhabra.

IMAGE: A scene from Sinners.

Sinners breaks information at Oscar nominations 2026

Ryan Coogler’s thrilling, vampire drama, additionally an amazing musical, Sinners, has damaged a movie historical past file by receiving 16 Oscar nominations.

Sinners launched early final yr was a success with critics and audiences world wide, together with India. The earlier file of 14 nominations was held by three movies, All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land.

Having grossed practically $370 worldwide, Sinners crammed Warner Bros coffers when most of the studio’s key 2025 movies misplaced cash.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After One other raked up the second highest nominations, 13 in all, though it remained one of many Warner movies to lose cash in 2025. Going into the nomination bulletins OBAA was the entrance runner for the Greatest Image Oscar. However that will not be an absolute certainty now, given the quantity of affection the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences members have proven for Sinners.

Sentimental Worth‘s girls bag Oscar nom

IMAGE: A scene from Sentimental Worth.

The nominations introduced on January 22 at 5.30 am in Los Angeles have been crammed with surprises. A very powerful assertion that got here out of the nominations is that the Academy’s practically 11,000 members, lots of them overseas nationals, should not at all times influenced by different awards such because the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Selection Awards or earlier nominations handed out by the Display Actors Guild and the British Academy Movie Awards (BAFTA).

That might clarify the Academy voters snubbing actors similar to Chase Infiniti (OBAA), Ariana Grande (Depraved: For Good), and most disappointing for me, Paul Mescal. He was improbable within the heartbreaking function of William Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet.

As a substitute the performing nominations included surprises such because the at all times reliable Delroy Lindo (supporting actor for Sinners), and two nominations for supporting actresses within the Norwegian movie Sentimental Worth, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. The most important shock was Kate Hudson, a Hollywood darling, getting nominated in one of the best actress class for Tune Sung Blue.

 

The disappointments on the Oscar nominations 2026

IMAGE: A scene from It Was Simply an Accident.

Maybe the opposite large disappointment was that each Guillermo Del Toro (Frankenstein) and Jaffer Panahi (It Was Simply an Accident) have been ignored within the Greatest Director class.

Frankenstein was Del Toro’s ardour undertaking that he deliberate to make for 50 years. No less than his critically acclaimed Netflix movie did obtain 9 nominations. Panahi’s Iranian movie, however formally a French entry, was nominated within the Greatest Authentic Screenplay in addition to Greatest Worldwide Movie classes.

Homebound misses out

IMAGE: A scene from Homebound.

Neeraj Ghaywan’s exhausting hitting Homebound didn’t make it to the Greatest Worldwide Movie record. Ghaywan, and his lead actors Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa campaigned exhausting for the movie, touring to main cities within the US and Europe and speaking to potential voters. That led the movie’s producer Karan Johar to even remark that the costly marketing campaign was a ‘bottomless pit’ and the result unknown.

The movie, which premiered on the Cannes movie competition, was government produced by Martin Scorsese. Despite the fact that it was shortlisted in December, the movie confronted robust competitors from different overseas language movies.

Nonetheless, India does win…

IMAGE: A scene from The Excellent Neighbor.

However there was some thrilling information for Indian movie lovers. Brooklyn-based Indian American documentarian Geeta Gandbhir obtained two nominations. She was nominated for her distinctive movie The Excellent Neighbor within the Greatest Documentary part in addition to within the Greatest Brief Documentary part for the HBO movie, The Satan is Busy. She co-directed the movie with Christalyn Hampton.

Alexandre Singh, a filmmaker of Indian origin, was nominated for the dwell motion quick Two Individuals Exchanging Saliva. Singh co-directed the movie with Natalie Musteata.

Previously a few years, particularly after the #OscarSoWhite marketing campaign, the Academy opened up its membership base to movie personalities of color and added many worldwide filmmakers, actors and producers. One good factor that has come from this enlargement of the membership is that overseas language movies have fared properly within the latest years.

This yr Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Worth, a movie about love, loss and households reconciling obtained 9 nominations together with for Greatest Image, Greatest Director and Greatest Worldwide Movie.

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent was nominated for 4 Oscars: Greatest Image, Greatest Actor (Wagner Moura), Greatest Worldwide Movie and the newly created Greatest Casting class.

The nominations imply that the Oscar season will proceed for nearly two extra months. The Academy Awards might be handed out on March 15.

Pictures curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff