The 98th Academy Awards will be handed out Sunday, with Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” entering Hollywood’s biggest night with a record 16 nominations, followed by “One Battle After Another” with 13 nods and other best-picture contenders including “Frankenstein,” “Marty Supreme,” “Sentimental Value” and “Hamnet.”
The 16 nominations for “Sinners,” including best picture, set a new Academy Awards record, surpassing the previous mark of 14 nominations held by “All About Eve” in 1950, “Titanic” in 1997 and “La La Land” in 2016.
Following “Sinners” in nominations are “One Battle After Another” with 13 nods, “Frankenstein,” “Marty Supreme” and “Sentimental Value” with nine each and “Hamnet” with eight.
Joining those films in the best picture category are “Bugonia,” “F1,” “The Secret Agent” and “Train Dreams.” Best picture remains the lone Oscar category with 10 nominees. Each of the 22 other categories includes five nominees.
“Sinners,” written and directed by Coogler, tells the story of twin criminal brothers played by Michael B. Jordan navigating the dangers of the Jim Crow South while confronting a supernatural threat. In addition to best picture, the film earned nominations for director, actor, supporting actor and screenplay, along with a range of technical categories including cinematography, editing, costume design and visual effects.
“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark comedy about aging revolutionaries, is another strong contender heading into Oscar night after earning nominations across multiple categories including best picture, actor and director.
Awards-season honors have offered mixed signals heading into Oscar night — setting up a compelling best-picture race on Sunday.
“One Battle After Another” won the prestigious Producers Guild of America Award for best feature film — an honor that has traditionally foretold the best-picture winner at the Oscars.
Since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expanded from five to 10 nominees in 2010, only four films have won the best picture Oscar without first winning the PGA Award. Last year, both honors went to “Anora.”
According to the PGA, 17 of the previous 22 winners of the guild’s motion award have won the best picture prize at the Oscars.
“One Battle” also won the top prize at the Critics Choice Awards in January, and it claimed the Golden Globe for best musical/comedy film.
“Sinners” limped out of the awards-season gate, failing to win any major prizes at the Golden Globes and earning only a screenplay honor at the Critics Choice Awards. But the film has slowly gained momentum, most notably by winning the Actor Award — formerly the Screen Actors Guild Award — for best ensemble cast, the guild’s equivalent of best picture.
Star Michael B. Jordan, who portrays twin brothers in “Sinners,” also won the Actor Award for best actor, giving him a major boost in the Oscars’ best-actor category over early favorite Timothée Chalamet of “Marty Supreme.”
Also vying for best actor are Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent.”
For best actress, Jessie Buckley of “Hamnet” has virtually swept most of the pre-Oscars honors, making her a virtual lock to hear her name called Sunday at the Dolby Theatre. But still vying for the prize and hoping for an upset are Golden Globe winner Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Kate Hudson for “Song Sung Blue,” Renate Reinsve for “Sentimental Value” and Emma Stone for “Bugonia.”
Competing for best supporting actor are Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn for “One Battle After Another,” Jacob Elordi for “Frankenstein,” Delroy Lindo for “Sinners” and Stellan Skarsgard for “Sentimental Value.”
In the supporting actress category, nominees are Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for “Sentimental Value,” Amy Madigan for “Weapons,” Wunmi Mosaku for “Sinners” and Teyana Taylor for “One Battle After Another.”
The best director nominees are Coogler for “Sinners,” Paul Thomas Anderson for “One Battle After Another,” Chloé Zhao for “Hamnet,” Josh Safdie for “Marty Supreme” and Joachim Trier for “Sentimental Value.”
Anderson would appear to have the upper hand in the category, after winning the Golden Globe, Critics Choice and Directors Guild of America awards.
This year’s Oscars also mark the first ceremony to include the Academy’s new casting category, recognizing casting directors for their work assembling a film’s ensemble.
As with most Oscar telecasts, the ceremony will feature musical performances and tributes celebrating the year’s films and honoring the legacy of the motion picture industry.
Among the highlights will be live performances inspired by the films “Sinners” and the animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters,” which producers described as two of the year’s most influential cultural phenomena.
The ceremony is also expected to include a celebration of the life of actor/writer/director Rob Reiner, who was killed along with his wife in their Brentwood home, allegedly by their 32-year-old son Nick. The killings occurred hours after the trio attended a holiday party at the home of comedian Conan O’Brien — who is hosting the Oscar ceremony for the second straight year.
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan — who co-starred in Reiner’s smash-hit romance “When Harry Met Sally” — are expected to be among those taking to the Oscar stage to pay tribute to the late director.
The ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, airing live on ABC and Hulu. The “Oscars Red Carpet Show” begins at 3:30 p.m., also on ABC and Hulu.
The ceremony will feature the usual array of A-list presenters, including Rose Byrne, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum, Sigourney Weaver, Will Arnett, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Hathaway, Paul Mescal and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Also scheduled to present are Adrien Brody, Javier Bardem, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Chase Infiniti, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Maya Rudolph and Zoe Saldaña.