External Publication

2026 Oscar Predictions: Who's Winning in Each Category?

No Film School [Unofficial] March 11, 2026

I have no idea who is going to win all the Oscars this year, but that's never stopped me from theorizing online!

There are so many great titles this year, and so many touching performances, all I can do is read the actual event and see which titles I think will come home with statues.

There are marketing surges happening right now, so this could all change, but for now, these are who I think will be the big winners.

The Oscars will be hosted by Conan O'Brien on Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, airing on ABC and streaming on Hulu.

Let's check out the Oscar nominees and dive into the predictions.

Our 2026 Oscar Predictions

I decided to bold the movies and people I think would win. This is all based on online chatter and which films are surging when.

I'm excited to see what I'm right or wrong about on Monday!

Best Picture

Bugonia (Focus Features); Ed Guiney & Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, Producers
F1 (Apple); Chad Oman, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
Frankenstein (Netflix); Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, Producers
Hamnet (Focus Features); Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Producers
Marty Supreme(A24); Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas and Timothée Chalamet, Producers
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
The Secret Agent(Neon); Emilie Lesclaux, Producer
Sentimental Value (Neon); Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Producers
** Sinners (Warner Bros.); Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Producers**
Train Dreams(Netflix); Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, Producers

Best Director

Hamnet (Focus Features), Chloé Zhao
Marty Supreme(A24), Josh Safdie
** One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Paul Thomas Anderson**
Sentimental Value(Neon), Joachim Trier
Sinners (Warner Bros.), Ryan Coogler

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme (A24)
Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Michael B. Jordan in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent(Neon)

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet (Focus Features)
Rose Byrne in I f I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)
Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue (Focus Features)
Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Emma Stone in Bugonia (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio Del Toro in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein (Netflix)
Delroy Lindo in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Sean Penn in One Battle after Another (Warner Bros.)
Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value(Neon)

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Amy Madigan in Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Teyana Taylor in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia (Focus Features); Screenplay by Will Tracy
Frankenstein (Netflix); Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet (Focus Features); Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
** One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Written by Paul Thomas Anderson**
Train Dreams (Netflix); Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Best Original Screenplay

Blue Moon ( Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Robert Kaplow
It Was Just an Accident(Neon); Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
Marty Supreme (A24); Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Sentimental Value(Neon); Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
** Sinners (Warner Bros.); Written by Ryan Coogler**

Best Animated Feature

Arco (Neon); Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
Elio (Walt Disney); Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
** KPop Demon Hunters(Netflix); Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong**
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS); Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney); Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino

Best International Feature

Brazil, The Secret Agent
France, It Was Just an Accident
Norway,Sentimental Value
Spain, Sirât
Tunisia, The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Documentary Feature

** The Alabama Solution (HBO Documentary Films); Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman**
Come See Me in the Good Light (Apple); Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
Cutting Through Rocks ; Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Mr. Nobody Against Putin(PINK); Nominees to be determined
The Perfect Neighbor(Netflix); Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee

Best Animated Short

Butterfly (Sacrebleu Productions); Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens
Forevergreen ; Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (National Film Board of Canada); Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
** Retirement Plan ; John Kelly and Andrew Freedman**
The Three Sisters (Polydont Films/Rymanco Ventures); Konstantin Bronzit

Best Casting

Hamnet (Focus Features); Nina Gold
Marty Supreme (A24); Jennifer Venditti
One Battle After Another(Warner Bros.); Cassandra Kulukundis
The Secret Agent(Neon); Gabriel Domingues
** Sinners (Warner Bros.); Francine Maisler**

Best Cinematography

Frankenstein (Netflix), Dan Laustsen
Marty Supreme (A24), Darius Khondji
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Michael Bauman
** Sinners (Warner Bros.), Autumn Durald Arkapaw**
Train Dreams (Netflix), Adolpho Veloso

Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Deborah L. Scott
Frankenstein (Netflix); Kate Hawley
Hamnet (Focus Features); Malgosia Turzanska
Marty Supreme (A24); Miyako Bellizzi
** Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ruth E. Carter**

Best Documentary Short

All the Empty Rooms (Netflix); Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud(HBO); Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
** Children No More: “Were and Are Gone”(Sky); Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins**
The Devil Is Busy(HBO); Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
Perfectly a Strangeness (Second Sight Pictures); Alison McAlpine

Best Film Editing

F1 (Apple); Stephen Mirrione
** Marty Supreme(A24); Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie**
One Battle After Another(Warner Bros.); Andy Jurgensen
Sentimental Value (Neon); Olivier Bugge Coutté
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Michael P. Shawver

Best Live-Action Short

Butcher’s Stain (Tel Aviv University Steve Tisch School of Film and Television); Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
A Friend of Dorothy ; Lee Knight and James Dean
Jane Austen’s Period Drama ; Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
** The Singers (Netflix); Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt**
Two People Exchanging Saliva (Canal+/The New Yorker); Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Frankenstein (Netflix); Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
Kokuho (GKIDS); Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
** Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry**
The Smashing Machine(A24); Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
The Ugly Stepsister (Independent Film Company/Shudder); Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Best Original Score

Bugonia (Focus Features); Jerskin Fendrix
Frankenstein (Netflix); Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet (Focus Features); Max Richter
** One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Jonny Greenwood**
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ludwig Goransson

Best Original Song

“Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless(MasterClass/Greenwich Entertainment); Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park
“I Lied to You” from Sinners (Warner Bros.); Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! (Viva Verdi!); Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams (Netflix); Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, Lyric by Nick Cave

Best Production Design

** Frankenstein (Netflix); Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau**
Hamnet (Focus Features); Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Marty Supreme(A24); Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne

Best Sound

** F1 (Apple) Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta**
Frankenstein (Netflix) Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
Sirāt (Neon); Amanda Vil

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
** F1 (Apple); Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson**
Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal); David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
The Lost Bus (Apple); Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
Sinners (Warner Bros.) Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean

Let me know what you think in the comments.