Expect to see and hear the words “One Battle After Another” a lot Thursday, when nominations are announced for the 98th Academy Awards.
Director/writer Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark-comic tale about a group of one-time revolutionaries, “One Battle” has emerged as the big-screen juggernaut of the 2026 Hollywood awards season, scooping up nominations and awards in all the glamour categories — and there’s little reason to think that won’t continue Thursday morning when nods for the Oscars are revealed.
“One Battle” has already scored 14 nominations (and three wins) at the Critics Choice Awards, a leading nine nods (and four wins) at the Golden Globes and a record seven nominations for the Actor Awards, not yet handed out.
On Thursday, it’s expected to be among the nomination leaders yet again — joining the likes of “Sinners,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “Frankenstein,” “Sentimental Value” and “Bugonia” in a glittering 2026 field.
Those films will likely dominate the best picture, actor, actress, director and supporting actor/actress categories.
Some Hollywood handicappers, in fact, are predicting the all-time record of 14 Oscar nominations could topple on Thursday — with “One Battle” and “Sinners” (a leading 17 Critics Choice nods, four wins) likely contenders to do the toppling.
All those questions will be answered beginning at 5:30 a.m. Thursday, when actress Danielle Brooks and actor Lewis Pullman announce the nominations live from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The announcement will be livestreamed on Oscar.com, Oscars.org and the Academy’s digital platforms on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, along with Disney+ and Hulu.
“One Battle” — with its all-star cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn and Chase Infiniti — has already won best picture at the Critics Choice Awards and best picture/musical or comedy at the Golden Globes, with “Hamnet” snagging best picture/drama at the Globes.
“One Battle,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet” and “Sinners” were also among the films scoring nominations for the coveted Producers Guild of America Award for theatrical motion pictures — an honor that typically leads to a best-picture victory on Oscar night. Also nominated by the PGA were “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Marty Supreme,” “Sentimental Value,” “Train Dreams” and “Weapons.”
Anderson has already won the Critics Choice and Golden Globe best director awards, and is among those nominated for the coveted Directors Guild Award, along with Chloé Zhao for “Hamnet,” Ryan Coogler for “Sinners,” Guillermo Del Toro for “Frankenstein” and Josh Saftie for “Marty Supreme.” All those directors would figure to be adding Oscar nods to their resumes.
For best actor, Timothée Chalamet seems a shoo-in nominee for his role in “Marty Supreme,” the sports comedy about one man’s travails chasing greatness in table tennis.
Chalamet has already won best actor at the Critics Choice and Golden Globes and is among the nominees for the Actor Awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards and always a strong barometer of acting awards. And it would seem he’s owed at least a nomination, if not the Oscar itself, following his upset loss as best actor last year playing a young Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.”
Also nominated for Actor Awards for best actor this year are DiCaprio, in “One Battle,” Michael B. Jordan in “Sinners,” Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon” and Jesse Plemons in “Bugonia” — all of whom would figure to be contenders in the Oscar race too.
For best actress, expect Jessie Buckley, in “Hamnet,” to be among Thursday’s nominees, following her wins at the Critics Choice and Golden Globes, the latter in the drama category. In the film, Buckley plays the wife of William Shakespeare as the couple mourns the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet — a real-life tragedy that inspired Shakespeare to pen “Hamlet.”
Chase Infiniti, in “One Battle,” will likely battle for the best actress Oscar as well, with other probable noms going to Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kill You,” Kate Hudson for “Song Sung Blue” and Emma Stone for “Bugonia.” Byrne took best actress/musical or comedy at the Globes — and all of those actress are nominated in the category for the Actors Awards.
For the record, “La La Land” (2016), “Titanic” (1997) and “All About Eve” (1950) each scored 14 nominations in previous years.
A total of 317 feature films are eligible for consideration for the 98th Academy Awards, including 201 that met the criteria for consideration for best picture, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced.
To be eligible for consideration in the general entry categories, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in at least one of six U.S. metropolitan areas — Los Angeles County; the city of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; and Atlanta, Georgia, between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2025, and run for at least seven consecutive days in the same venue. The films must be more than 40 minutes long.
Qualifying for the best picture category, films must be eligible for the general categories and producers must submit an Academy Representation and Inclusion Standards form. They also must complete an expanded theatrical release standard, including a run of at least seven days in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets, no later than 45 days after their initial release in 2025.
The Academy Awards will be presented March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.