The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday announced nominations for the ninety-eighth Academy Awards, with Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” setting a new Oscars record by earning sixteen nominations, the most ever for a single film, according to the Academy. The announcements were made during a livestream from Los Angeles, marking a pivotal year for the Oscars 2026 nominations as international studios and new creative roles gained unprecedented recognition.
KEY POINT
- “Sinners” leads the Oscars 2026 nominations with sixteen, surpassing the long-standing record of fourteen.
- Independent distributor NEON secured four of five international feature nominations, underscoring its growing global influence.
- The Academy introduced a new competitive category recognizing casting directors for the first time.
The release of the Oscars 2026 nominations highlighted a film industry in transition, balancing blockbuster scale with global storytelling and institutional reform.
With nominees spanning twenty-four categories, the announcement reflected broader changes in how films are financed, distributed and evaluated, particularly as independent and non English language cinema continues to gain traction within Hollywood’s most influential awards body.
For decades, the record for most Oscar nominations stood at fourteen, shared by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.”
That benchmark fell Thursday as “Sinners,” a historical drama blending genre storytelling with large-scale production, received sixteen nominations, according to Academy records.
The Academy has also continued to expand its membership and categories following years of criticism over representation and transparency.
The introduction of a casting category marks the first new competitive award since best animated feature was added in two thousand one, reflecting long-standing calls from industry guilds to formally recognize casting as a core creative discipline.
International cinema also played a central role. NEON, founded in two thousand seventeen, has steadily built a reputation by acquiring high-profile festival winners and positioning them for awards success.
Its dominance in this year’s international feature category builds on a streak that includes recent Cannes Palme d’Or winners.
Film awards analysts say the Oscars 2026 nominations demonstrate how the Academy is recalibrating prestige in an era of fragmented audiences and globalized production.
“The scale of recognition for ‘Sinners’ suggests voters are still drawn to ambitious, technically complex filmmaking,” said Clayton Davis, senior awards editor at Variety, in an interview earlier this week.
“At the same time, the strength of international and independent distributors shows the Academy’s center of gravity is no longer exclusively studio-driven.”
Industry economists note that awards visibility can materially affect a film’s commercial lifespan. According to Comscore, Oscar-nominated films typically see box office increases of fifteen to twenty percent following nominations, a figure that can be higher for specialty releases with limited initial distribution.
Academy Chief Executive Bill Kramer said in a statement that the nominations reflect “the breadth of creative voices shaping cinema today.” Kramer added that the new casting category was designed to “recognize the collaborative work that defines performance-driven storytelling.”
Elisabeth Vogler, a European sales agent based in Berlin, said NEON’s showing reinforces a broader market trend. “Distributors that understand both festivals and the Academy ecosystem are reshaping how international films reach global audiences,” she said.
Casting Society of America President Destiny Lilly welcomed the new category, saying it validates work that has long influenced a film’s success but rarely received public recognition.
With final voting set to begin next month, studios and distributors are expected to intensify awards campaigns, including international screenings and guild outreach.
The Academy has said it will continue reviewing category structures and membership policies, though no further changes have been announced ahead of the ceremony scheduled for March.
The Oscars 2026 nominations underscore a year of record-setting achievement and structural change for the Academy.
From “Sinners” rewriting nomination history to the expanded presence of international distributors and newly recognized crafts, this awards cycle reflects an industry adapting to global audiences while redefining how cinematic excellence is measured and honored.