The biggest 2026 Oscar nomination shock was the contrast between a record-setting haul for Sinners and a total shutout for Wicked: For Good. Other notable surprises included Delroy Lindo earning his first Oscar nomination for Sinners and Kate Hudson landing in the best actress field for Song Sung Blue. “Snub” and “surprise” are critical judgments, not official Academy terms; the Academy’s nominee list confirms who made the cut, while the Associated Press’s nomination-day analysis explains why some results stood out.
What made the 2026 nominations notable?
The Academy announced nominations for the 98th Oscars on January 22, 2026. The field covered 24 award categories. Academy members in 19 branches voted in their respective categories; Best Picture had 10 nominees, while each other category had five. Nomination ballots came from 88 countries, according to the Academy announcement.
Sinners led the nominations with 16, setting a new Academy record and breaking the previous 14-nomination benchmark. One Battle After Another followed with 13. Those totals frame the most striking contrast of the announcement: a historic high for one film and a complete shutout for a prominent sequel.
The biggest film-level snub: Wicked: For Good
Wicked: For Good received no nominations, and Ariana Grande was left out of the supporting actress field. That result stood out because the first Wicked film received 10 nominations. The Associated Press identified both the sequel’s shutout and Grande’s omission as major disappointments relative to expectations.
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AP noted the sequel’s critical reception as a possible factor in the gap between expectations and the result, but the Academy has not stated why voters made their choices. The nomination outcome is clear; a specific explanation for it is not.
Unexpected acting nominations
Delroy Lindo for Sinners
Delroy Lindo earned a supporting actor nomination for Sinners, his first Oscar nomination. AP singled him out as a surprise selection. His place in the final five meant another contender did not make the category, but voters have not disclosed their reasoning, and the available sources do not establish a single expected nominee he replaced.
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Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue
Kate Hudson made the best actress lineup for Song Sung Blue. AP described her inclusion as a surprise; the Academy’s nominee list confirms she was among the five selections.
Amy Madigan for Weapons
Amy Madigan’s supporting actress nomination for the horror film Weapons was another unexpected inclusion in AP’s analysis. It offered a counterpoint to the year’s other genre-related conversation, but one nomination is not evidence of a broad change in Academy voting habits.
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Notable acting omissions
AP also highlighted several performers who missed nominations:
- Paul Mescal was left out of the acting field for Hamnet, despite being viewed by AP as a seemingly likely nominee.
- Chase Infiniti missed an acting nomination for One Battle After Another.
- Amanda Seyfried was omitted for The Testament of Ann Lee.
- Jesse Plemons did not receive an acting nomination for Bugonia.
These are omissions from individual acting categories, unlike the film-wide result for Wicked: For Good. The sources establish AP’s expectations framing, not a measurable consensus about which omissions were the most consequential.
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Guillermo del Toro’s directing omission for Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro was not nominated for directing Frankenstein, even though the film received nine nominations elsewhere. AP called the omission surprising and contrasted it with Joachim Trier’s directing nomination for Sentimental Value. The contrast makes the result notable, but it does not reveal why Academy voters chose one director over another.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.It Was Just an Accident earned recognition without a top-field place
Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident received nominations for original screenplay and international feature, but not for Best Picture or directing. AP noted the split between those category recognitions and the film’s absence from the two high-profile fields. Those nomination facts are separate from discussion of Panahi’s political circumstances, which do not establish why voters made their choices.
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How to interpret “snubs” and “surprises”
There is no objective ranking of the biggest snubs in the available reporting. A useful way to compare the results is to distinguish the scale of a film’s overall showing, whether an omission affected one person or an entire film, and whether the expectation behind a “snub” label comes from a named critic’s analysis. A surprise nomination can also draw attention because it changes the makeup of a five-person category, without proving whom voters had in mind instead.
AP film writer Lindsey Bahr captured her interpretation of the horror-related selections this way: “Oscar voters hate to be boxed in, and apparently this year they heard the cries about biases against horror movies.” That is Bahr’s reading of the nominations, not an Academy statement or a measured account of voters’ motivations.
Quick Recap
2026 nominations at a glance
| Film or nominee | Result | Why it stood out |
|---|---|---|
| Sinners | 16 nominations | A record-setting total, as reported by the Associated Press. |
| One Battle After Another | 13 nominations | The second-highest total, as reported by the Associated Press. |
| Wicked: For Good | 0 nominations | A film-wide shutout; Ariana Grande also missed supporting actress. |
| Delroy Lindo, Sinners | Supporting actor nomination | His first Oscar nomination; AP called the selection a surprise. |
| Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue | Best actress nomination | AP identified her inclusion as a surprise. |
Sources
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: 98th Oscars nominations announced
- Associated Press: Oscar nominations snubs and surprises
- Associated Press: 2026 Oscar nominations list
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