The nominations for the 2026 Oscars are out, and Sinners is the big winner. It has officially set the record for the most nominations for a single film, getting several both above and below the line. In total, Ryan Coogler’s masterpiece has 16 nominations, blowing past the previous record of 14. Unfortunately, in so many of those nominations, the film is fighting a losing battle.

Sinners Unfortunately Faces Steep Competition in Oscars Categories

Sinners is up for a record 16 awards. No other film in history has ever had that many nominations by the Academy. Typically, when a film is up for so many things, it’s a good shout to come away with a ton of awards. Unfortunately, that may not be the case with this one.

First and foremost, and totally unsurprisingly, Sinners is up for Best Picture. If it weren’t for One Battle After Another, it would probably be the shoo-in winner. I lean slightly toward One Battle for my favorite of 2025, but I’d be pleased to see Sinners win. It’s just probably not going to.

Similarly, both Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Coogler are up for Best Director. Unfortunately, Best Picture and Best Director align most of the time, meaning Anderson will definitely come away with this one. Even though I lean towards One Battle, I truly believe Coogler’s direction was better.

Michael B. Jordan is up for Best Actor, but he’s not going to win. It’s Timothee Chalamet’s award to lose, and Leonardo DiCaprio might be the best shot at an upset bid. Jordan was incredible in the film, but he’s probably a firm third out of the five nominees.

Sinners is also up for Best Cinematography. There’s actually a good chance it wins this one, but the category is pretty stacked. Train Dreams and Frankenstein could easily win, as could One Battle After Another, so this is far from a sure win for any movie.

Delroy Lindo earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. I would’ve nominated Miles Caton over him, but Lindo is good. Unfortunately, he’s probably fifth out of five here. Stellan Skarsgard and Jacob Elordi are the two runaway favorites for this Oscar.

The movie got a nomination for Best Supporting Actress as well. Wunmi Mosaku, a standout in Sinners, is my personal choice for this Oscar, but again, it’s unlikely. Amy Madigan seems to be the favorite in some circles, while Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value) and Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) are favored in others.

Best Score is absolutely going to Ludwig Goransson for his work on Sinners. The score is outstanding, and it has been the favorite in this category all year. There’s an almost guaranteed win for the movie. It is also up for Best Original Screenplay, and it’s very plausible that Coogler’s script takes this award. However, Sentimental Value and Marty Supreme are lurking.

“I Lied to You” is up for Best Original Song, and while it would probably win in any other year, “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters is here, and it was a global phenomenon (and a fantastic song). There’s zero chance anything but “Golden” takes home this award.

Best Casting is totally up in the air, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the cast led by Jordan, Caton, Lindo, Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, Hailee Steinfeld, and others took home the award, but it’s really hard to predict the first-ever Best Casting Oscar award.

The movie is also up for costume design, and it could win, but Frankenstein seems poised to take home that award. It is also up for:

• Makeup and Hairstyling
• Production Design
• Film Editing
• Sound
• Visual Effects

Out of those remaining ones, none of them are surefire wins, but a few of them will be. The way I see it, Sinners has one guaranteed win, a few more likely victories, a few more question marks, and a lot of near-guaranteed misses. So while 16 nominations are wildly impressive, it probably doesn’t portend a record-setting takeaway in March.

Conclusion

Just to be nominated is a big deal, and while Sinners is unlikely to win the night when the Oscars are announced (One Battle After Another seems poised to take most of the hardware), it’s always going to be in the history books for taking home a record 16 nominations.