Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Emma Stone, “Sinners,” and “Wicked: For Good” are among the top contenders of the season.

2026 Oscar predictions: Who will be nominated at the 98th Academy Awards?

Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Emma Stone, "Sinners," and "Wicked: For Good" are among the top contenders of the season.

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes *RuPaul's Drag Race* video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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November 4, 2025 4:10 p.m. ET

Cynthia Erivo in 'Wicked: For Good' and Leonardo DiCaprio in 'One Battle After Another'. Credit:

Universal Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures

Awards season sometimes feels like... well... one battle after another when it comes to gauging top contenders in the race.

This year, however, major players in the hunt for Oscars have sprung up in pole position at a remarkably early stage, with long-overdue, 11-time nominee Paul Thomas Anderson's latest widely expected to put an end to his lengthy losing streak at the Academy Awards.

But, as last year's Best Actress race between longtime frontrunner Demi Moore and eventual winner Mikey Madison proved, the Oscars race is a fluid, ever-changing entity with more plot twists than Yorgos Lanthimos' *Bugonia*.**

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When it comes to gauging who will be nominated at the 2026 Oscars, **'s awards expertise has you covered, with a full set of Oscar predictions in each of the major categories, from Best Picture to the acting races.

***Check out more from EW's *The Awardist*, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV, movies, and more.***

As this year's contest rages on, find out who we think will be nominated in EW's 2026 Oscar predictions below, updating as often as the race changes in the weeks ahead.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro in 'One Battle After Another'.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Best Picture

Call it a boring Best Picture race if you *must*, but the industry is — and will continue to be — endlessly enamored by Anderson's latest. If momentum holds for the legendary filmmaker's timely thriller, we're looking at a monolithic contender that could end up as the most-winning Best Picture victor in recent memory.

Enthusiasm for *One Battle After Another* appears to be strongest with actors, directors, and producers, meaning it could "stack" its way to a Best Picture victory by appealing to the most influential branches in the Academy. Starting with the actors, *Battle* has, in theory, around six major stars who could find a path into the acting categories, with Regina Hall and Benicio Del Toro obviously being the most vulnerable. However, the hold it currently seems to have in the Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Actress (Chase Infiniti), and Best Supporting Actress (Teyana Taylor) categories is a testament to the film's emotional core, which will drive support in the long run.

Not far behind it, though, is Chloé Zhao's *Hamnet*, the director's prestige follow-up (sorry, *Eternals*) to *Nomadland *that's already generated significant buzz thanks to Jessie Buckley's lead performance, Paul Mescal's supporting turn, and the film's historic dressings (it will build support across technical categories, too).

*Sentimental Value* and *It Was Just an Accident* will additionally continue the recent Cannes-initiated trend of high-brow global dramas hitting big with the Academy's increasingly international votership (*Cold War*, *Parasite*, *Another Round*, *Triangle of Sadness*, *Anatomy of a Fall*, etc.), while *Sinners* occupies a key spot as a runaway box office smash with star power, critical support, and commercial success bolstering its solid place in the 2026 race.

The remaining slots feel open to some degree, with Timothée Chalamet's *Marty Supreme* and *Bugonia* jockeying for slots as well (we see *Bugonia* dropping on some predictions lists... never discount a Lanthimos-Emma Stone venture), while *Wicked: For Good *also feels like a solid choice to round out the category one year after its predecessor stormed the nominations list.* *

- *One Battle After Another*

- *Sentimental Value***

- *It Was Just an Accident *

- *Marty Supreme***

- *Wicked: For Good*

- *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery*

- *The Testament of Ann Lee*

**In the hunt: ***Train Dreams*; *Jay Kelly*; *Is This Thing On?*;* F1*; *Avatar: Fire and Ash*; *Frankenstein*; *The Secret Agent***

Teyana Taylor and Leonardo DiCaprio in 'One Battle After Another'.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Best Director

It's hard to believe that *Boogie Nights*, *Magnolia*, *Punch-Drunk Love*, *There Will Be Blood*, and *The Master* helmer has never won an Oscar, but his 11 career nominations stand as a testament to his enduring popularity.

Though he's Oscar-less, PTA has won Best Director at Cannes, the Silver Lion in Venice, and the Golden Bear in Berlin, meaning his reach is, at this point, far and wide, in every corner of the globe. He aims to finally cement that affection for his work with America's foremost film award, and all signs point to his most recent work steamrolling the competition.

While *One Battle After Another* has, at this point, seemingly won the campaign war for Best Picture, Best Director feels more vulnerable. Jafar Panahi has earned similarly passionate praise for *It Was Just an Accident* out of Cannes, while Ryan Coogler could court votes for helming an original story to massive commercial success at the global box office with *Sinners*.**

- Paul Thomas Anderson, *One Battle After Another*

- Jafar Panahi, *It Was Just an Accident*

- Chloé Zhao, *Hamnet*

- Ryan Coogler, *Sinners*

- Joachim Trier, *Sentimental Value*

**In the hunt: **Yorgos Lanthimos, *Bugonia*; Josh Safdie, *Marty Supreme*; Guillermo del Toro, *Frankenstein*; Rian Johnson, *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery*; Jon M. Chu, *Wicked: For Good*; Kathryn Bigelow, *A House of Dynamite*

Leonardo DiCaprio in 'One Battle After Another'.

Let's get this out of the way now: We're not using *Killers of the Flower Moon* to gauge DiCaprio's standing in the current Best Actor race. While he missed out on a nod for Martin Scorsese's three-hour 2023 drama, it was a crowded year with far less assured chances.

His performance (along with those of Infiniti and Taylor) are the pumping heart of *One Battle After Another*, and he's positioned at the head of a middling race with an uncertain roster at this stage.

*Marty Supreme*'s Chalamet also feels safely squared away here (once again) as Hollywood's reigning golden boy, though the remaining three slots appear to be wide open for contenders like Wagner Moura (*The Secret Agent*) and *Sinners*' Michael B. Jordan (playing dual roles, mind you) to swoop in.

While *Jay Kelly*'s George Clooney and *Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere'*s* *Jeremy Allen White could sneak in as they star in projects revolving around elements of the entertainment industry (which the Oscars tend to love, especially when they're about men), it's Dwayne Johnson's performance in *The Smashing Machine* that we have our eye on for the long run. While the Mark Kerr biopic didn't smash the box office, Johnson still underwent a bit of a transformation for the role, and it marks one of his most dramatic roles to date — and, given his long-standing likability and box office might in the industry, his fellow actors might feel inclined to lift up one of the last remaining *movie* stars of a dying breed of Hollywood actors.

- Leonardo DiCaprio, *One Battle After Another*

- Timothée Chalamet, *Marty Supreme*

- Wagner Moura, *The Secret Agent*

- Michael B. Jordan, *Sinners*

- Dwayne Johnson, *The Smashing Machine*

**In the hunt:** Joel Edgerton, *Train Dreams*;* *George Clooney, *Jay Kelly*; Jeremy Allen White, *Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere*; Jesse Plemons, *Bugonia*; Vahid Mobasseri, *It Was Just an Accident*;* *Matthew McConaughey, *The Lost Bus*;* *Daniel Day-Lewis; *Anemone*

Jessie Buckley in 'Hamnet'.

Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

Best Actress

Just like last year, Best Actress is shaping up to be another two-woman race throughout the remainder of the season. For now, *Hamnet*'s Buckley is out front, with her emotionally charged performance in Zhao's drama earning the best reviews of the actress' career. On paper, she's got a buzzy trail ahead of her, too, with her heavily anticipated reunion with *Lost Daughter *helmer Maggie Gyllenhaal (the bonkers-looking *The Bride*) set to drop March 6, with a press cycle likely coinciding with Buckley's Oscar bid.

Renate Reinsve is hot on her tail, though, and will surely court international voters after she burst onto the scene with her standout performance in the phenomenal *Worst Person in the World* — also directed by *Sentimental Value*'s Trier.

Regardless of how its box office numbers fare in comparison to the 2024 edition, *Wicked: For Good *will again boost Cynthia Erivo into the Best Actress crowd, with her performance set to be a towering end to the two-part musical opus. Infiniti also feels like the "ingenue" of the year, much the way Madison ended the race last year, while it's unwise to discount Stone's unrelenting power in the Oscar race — especially in a film like *Bugonia*, her re-teaming with Lanthimos after they found success with *The Favourite *and *Poor Things*.

- Jessie Buckley, *Hamnet*

- Renate Reinsve, *Sentimental Value*

- Cynthia Erivo, *Wicked: For Good*

- Chase Infiniti,* One Battle After Another*

- Emma Stone, *Bugonia*

**In the hunt: **Rose Byrne, *If I Had Legs I'd Kick You*; Amanda Seyfried, *The Testament of Ann Lee*; Jennifer Lawrence, *Die My Love*; Kate Hudson, *Song Sung Blue*

Sean Penn in 'One Battle After Another'.

Best Supporting Actor

Sean Penn kicked up the intensity with his work in *One Battle After Another*, and audiences took note. His bold role as a military officer might rub some the wrong way on character alone, but there's no denying how the industry will receive such a brash performance. Supporting contenders often succeed with more in-your-face work (just look at last year's Best Supporting Actress winner, Zoe Saldaña for *Emilia Pérez*), and Penn's transformative work here could lead to his first victory in 16 years.

Stellan Skarsgård also feels like a safe choice given his well-received turn in *Sentimental Value*, as does Mescal for his hefty supporting turn in *Hamnet.* The remaining slots are a toss-up in an open field, with the increasingly powerful profile of *Challengers* actor Josh O'Connor bolstering his bid for *Wake Up Dead Man,* which contains arguably his best work to date.

Del Toro could go along for the ride with *Battle*, as could youngster Jacobi Jupe (*Hamnet*) and *Sinners*' Delroy Lindo, but it's Jacob Elordi's work in *Frankenstein* that, while not technically the best of any of the aforementioned names, is physically transformative enough to catch voters' attention.

- Sean Penn, *One Battle After Another*

- Stellan Skarsgård, *Sentimental Value*

- Paul Mescal, *Hamnet*

- Benicio Del Toro, *One Battle After Another*

- Jacob Elordi, *Frankenstein*

**In the hunt:** Josh O'Connor, *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery*; Adam Sandler, *Jay Kelly*; Delroy Lindo, *Sinners*; Jacobi Jupe, *Hamnet*; Dylan O'Brien, *Twinless*; William H. Macy,* Train Dreams*

Teyana Taylor in 'One Battle After Another'.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Madigan came locked and loaded into the Best Supporting Actress race, with *Weapons* registering as a runaway hit with a cultural impact strong enough to catapult her into the Oscars contest.

Whether she'll maintain throughout the season remains to be seen. She'll need strong, sustained support from both critics groups and precursor bodies to stay afloat, as her work in the film is memorable, but not as showy as one might expect upon first glance. She's got the element of wild transformation on her side, but the performance lacks the kind of prestige appeal necessary to win over the snootier, international voting body of the acting branch. And, while not outright horror in nature, many might dismiss the film as simply a genre picture in general, and refuse to watch it in the first place.

That said, there's still a chance she could sneak in, but this category is packed with potential players who also appear in this year's likely Best Picture contenders. That kind of weight will help recognizable names like prior winner Gwyneth Paltrow (*Marty Supreme*) and Elle Fanning (*Sentimental Value*) succeed on early ballots.

Support for *Sinners* is also likely to be strong in the coming weeks, with Wunmi Mosaku's incredible performance in the film ultimately strong enough (and her part meaty enough) to overcome the same kind of genre bias that might hold someone like Madigan back.

But, at this phase, the race seems to be Taylor's to lose. With another high-profile performance streaming in Ryan Murphy's *All's Fair* during key voting periods, Taylor's face (and acting prowess) will be hard to ignore this year — especially in such a strong Best Picture contender like *One Battle After Another*.

- Teyana Taylor, *One Battle After Another*

- Gwyneth Paltrow, *Marty Supreme*

- Elle Fanning, *Sentimental Value*

- Wunmi Mosaku, *Sinners*

- Ariana Grande, *Wicked: For Good*

**In the hunt: **Amy Madigan, *Weapons*; Glenn Close, *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery*; Regina Hall, *One Battle After Another*;* *Emily Blunt, *The Smashing Machine*

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Oscars”