Horror films loomed large over the 2026 Academy Award nominations, shattering previous records for the genre and making Oscar history.
Led by Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, horror films or horror-adjacent films, scored a total of 32 Oscar nominations, including nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, Supporting Actor and Actress, Screenplay, Direction, Cinematography, and Song.
Sinners set a new record with 16 nominations, the most of any film in Oscar’s nearly 100-year history. The film is also just the seventh horror film to be nominated for best picture, following The Exorcist, Jaws, The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, Black Swan, Get Out and The Substance.
Sinners received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay for Cooglar, Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Supporting Actor for Delroy Lindo, Best Supporting Actress for Wunmi Mosaku, Casting for Francine Maisler, Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Best Costume Design for Ruth E. Carter, Best Editing for Michael P. Shawver, Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry, Best Original Score for Ludwig Goransson, Best Original Song for Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson, Best Production Design for Hannah Beachler and Monique Champagne, Best Sound for Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker, and Best Visual Effects for Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean.
But academy voters spread their love of horror around with Best Picture nods to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein remake, and the horror-adjacent sci-fi thriller Bugonia. Emma Stone’s performance in Bugonia, and Jacob Elordi’s in Frankenstein received nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. Amy Madigan’s memorable performance in Weapons has already been generating months of buzz before her nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Frankenstein also received nods for del Toro’s adapted screenplay, Dan Laustsen’s cinematography, Kate Hawley’s costume design, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey’s makeup and hairstyling, Alexandre Desplat’s original score, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau’s production design, and Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern’s sound.
Other nominations included Best Animated Film and Best Song for K Pop Demon Hunters, and Best Picture and Best Original Score for Bugonia.
The 98th Academy Awards air live at 7 p.m. EDT on ABC and stream on Hulu on Sunday, March 15.
