Sinners leads 2026 Oscar nominations with record-breaking 16 nods — and it's been joined by a surprise Apple TV movie on the Best Picture shortlist

• The 2026 Oscar nominations have been revealed
• Sinners leads the pack with a record-breaking 16 nods
• There's a surprise entry among this year's Best Picture nominees

The 2026 Oscar nominations have been announced – and, while Sinners has received a record-breaking 16 nominations, it's not the movie or talking point that should be dominating online discussions.

Revealed today (January 22), this year's Academy Award nominees list is filled with names that many of us expected to see.

As mentioned, Sinners, the Ryan Coogler-directed supernatural thriller/period drama that's out now on HBO Max, leads the way with 16 award nods. That's the most in Oscar history, too, with Sinners – one of the 35 best movies we saw in 2025 – surpassing the 14 nominations that All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997), and La La Land (2016) share.

As I alluded to, though, despite Sinners' record-breaking nomination haul, there's a bigger talking point at hand. That being, F1: The Movie receiving an unexpected nod for this year's Best Picture award.

Now, this isn't to say that F1, which you can watch right now on Apple TV, doesn't deserve to be put forward for such a prestigious prize. My surprise stems from the fact that, until now, it's largely been nominated for behind-the-camera awards, including Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Stunts, and Best Visual Effects.

In fact, the only time the Apple Original Movie has earned a Best Picture nod was at the Astra Midseason Film Awards. It isn't up for the Best Film accolade at the 2026 BAFTAs, nor did it get put forward for similar gongs at this year's Critics Choice Awards or Golden Globes. That makes its Best Picture Oscar nomination all the more remarkable.

So, what chance does it have of pulling off an almighty shock at this year's Oscars and landing Apple its second Best Picture Academy Award after CODA's hugely unexpected win in 2022? They're effectively zero, in my view. From Netflix hits like Frankenstein and Train Dreams, to Sinners and its Warner Bros. sibling One Battle after Another, and even A24's Marty Supreme, the competition is simply too strong. It's a huge achievement for F1 to be nominated for this type of award and, quite simply, Apple should take pride in the fact that it has been.

2026 Oscars nomination list in full: every movie that's up for an Academy Award

Best Picture

• Bugonia
• Frankenstein
• F1
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• The Secret Agent
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Best Actor

• Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
• Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
• Michael B Jordan – Sinners
• Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Best Actress

• Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
• Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
• Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
• Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
• Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Supporting Actress

• Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan – Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
• Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actor

• Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo – Sinners
• Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best Casting

• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• The Secret Agent

Best Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
• Ryan Coogler – Sinners
• Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
• Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Bugonia
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• One Battle After Another
• Train Dreams

Best Original Screenplay

• Blue Moon
• It Was Just an Accident
• Marty Supreme
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners

Best Original Song

• Dear Me – Diane Warren: Relentless
• Golden – KPop Demon Hunters
• I Lied to You – Sinners
• Sweet Dreams of Joy – Viva Verdi!
• Train Dreams – Train Dreams

Best Original Score

• Bugonia
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners

Best International Feature

• It Was Just an Accident
• Sentimental Value
• Sirât
• The Secret Agent
• The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Animated Feature

• Arco
• Elio
• KPop Demon Hunters
• Little Amélie
• Zootopia 2

Best Documentary Feature

• Come See Me in the Good Light
• Cutting Through the Rocks
• Mr. Nobody Against Putin
• The Alabama Solution
• The Perfect Neighbor

Best Costume Design

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• Sinners

Best Make-Up and Hairstyling

• Frankenstein
• Kokuho
• Sinners
• The Smashing Machine
• The Ugly Stepsister

Best Production Design

• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners

Best Sound

• Frankenstein
• F1
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Sirât

Best Editing

• F1
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners

Best Cinematography

• Frankenstein
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Best Visual Effects

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• F1
• Jurassic World Rebirth
• Sinners
• The Lost Bus

Best Live-Action Short

• A Friend of Dorothy
• Butcher's Stain
• Jane Austin's Period Drama
• The Singers
• Two People Exchanging Saliva

Best Animated Short

• Butterfly
• Forevergreen
• Retirement Plan
• The Girl Who Cried Pearls
• The Three Sisters

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

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