Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio are set to compete in the highly anticipated Best Actor category, as the 2026 Oscar nominations were unveiled on Thursday. Meanwhile, the film “Sinners” has made history by receiving the most Academy Awards nominations ever recorded.

Chalamet, now 30, has been nominated for his performance in “Marty Supreme.” DiCaprio, at 51, is recognized for his role in “One Battle Another.” These two Hollywood heavyweights will contend with Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon,” Michael B. Jordan, and Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent.”

In a groundbreaking moment, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” shattered records with an impressive 16 nominations, including the prestigious Best Picture category. This achievement surpasses the previous record held by “All About Eve” (1950), “Titanic” (1997), and “La La Land” (2016).

The horror film is among ten contenders vying for Best Picture. The list also includes “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value,” and “Train Dreams.”

The Actress in a Leading Role category promises fierce competition, with nominations for Jessie Buckley in “Hamnet,” Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I Would Kick You,” Kate Hudson in “Song Sung Blue,” Renate Reinsve for “Sentimental Value,” and Emma Stone in “Bugonia.”

The first award announced was Actress in a Supporting Role as the nominees included Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Amy Madigan – Weapons, Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners, and Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another.

Timothee Chalametand Leonardo DiCapriowill face off in coveted Best Actor category as the full list of nominations for the 2026 Oscars were announced on Thursday (they are seen at the Golden Globe Awards last week)

It was a record-breaking morning as Ryan Coogler’s Sinners made history as it earned most Academy Awards nominations ever with 16 including biggest prize of the night Best Picture

 Ariana Grande was a massive snub in the category for Wicked: For Good as she had been nominated the previous year for her work in the first Wicked film. 

The Actor in a Supporting Role category was star studded as those facing off will include Benecio Del Toro – One Battle After Another, Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein, Delroy Lindo – Sinners, Sean Penn – One Battle After Another, and Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value.

Paul Mescal and Adam Sandler are considered to be major snubs in this category for their work in Hamnet and Jay Kelly, respectively. 

Best Animated Feature Film nods went to Arco, Elio, KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amelie Or the Character Of Rain, and Zootopia 2.

The Live Action Short film category included: Butcher’s Strain, A Friend Of Dorothy, Jane Austen’s Period Drama, The Singers, and Two People Exchanging Saliva. 

The 98th annual Academy Awards will take place just under two months from now at its home The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 15.

Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman announced the nominees in all 24 categories, including the new casting award, as it could be viewed in a livestream from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. 

There are just over 11,000 members of the Academy with individuals split into 19 branches.

Chalamet, 30, received a nod for Marty Supreme 

Dicaprio, 51, earned it for One Battle Another

Those branches are split between directors, writers, costume designers, hair and make-up teams, publicists, and the biggest one of all: actors.

Of those 11,000 members, just under 10,000 end up voting for the Academy Awards as members who don’t vote have emeritus status.

The Academy has massively increased its membership over the past 14 years as a Los Angeles Times report published in 2012 revealed the Academy had about 5,800 members at that time.

Nominees were chosen through a ranked-choice ballot, AKA a preferential ballot,  as each voter listed their nominees in order of preference. 

Then when the ballots are counted, nominees were selected based on the number of votes over a particular threshold as well as the number of overall nominees in that category. 

However, for those contenders that didn’t hit the required threshold, the ranked-choice balloting takes effect. 

At the biggest night in film, 24 categories will be awarded as each category features five nominees, except for Best Picture, which has ten. 

Oscar viewers will be seeing a familiar face as Conan O’Brien will be returning to host a year after he helped last year’s ceremony draw the biggest audience in five years

Best Picture nominations are determined by eligible members from all 19 Academy branches. 

All rounds of Oscars voting are conducted by secret online ballot, tabulated by the independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Oscar viewers will be seeing a familiar face as Conan O’Brien will be returning to host a year after he helped last year’s ceremony draw the biggest audience in five years. 

The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.