Oscars 2026 Guide: Full Details on Nominations, Host, Venue and Predictions

Oscars 2026: Here are all the specifics of the 98th Academy Awards, including the date, time, nominations, predictions, host, location, and other crucial details for the Oscars 2026 celebration.

The highly anticipated film festival in Hollywood has arrived. The 98th Academy Awards will be held on March 15, 2026 (March 16 IST), bringing together the biggest names in cinema to recognise the finest films, actresses, and brilliance behind the camera of 2025. The event is once again expected to captivate people worldwide, with historic winners and stunning snubs.

Oscars 2026 Venue: 

The event will take place in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, which has hosted the Oscars for many years.

When will the Oscars 2026 begin? 

The broadcast will start at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (PT) and 7 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) in the United States. Due to the time difference, viewers in India will see the event begin at 5:30 a.m. IST on March 16.

Hosting the Oscars in 2026 

Conan O'Brien, a comedian and television personality, will return as host following his highly lauded performance at last year's ceremony.

Oscars 2026 nominations

 As is customary, the ceremony's most prestigious awards will receive the most attention. When the nominees were published last month, they provoked extensive internet discussion. Sinners has emerged as the top candidate this year, with 16 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. One Battle After Another comes in second with 13 nominations. Several other films have gained significant traction in the Oscars race. Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value have all gotten nine nominations, making them strong Oscar possibilities.

Here are some of the main categories and nominees:

Best Picture

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Best Director

Chloe Zhao – Hamnet

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Best Actor (Leading Role)

Story continues below. Subscribe to see fewer ads.

Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Best Actress (Leading Role)

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

Delroy Lindo – Sinners

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan – Weapons

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best International Feature Film

The Secret Agent — Brazil

It Was Just an Accident — France

Sentimental Value — Norway

Sirt — Spain

The Voice of Hind Rajab — Tunisia

Best animated short film

Butterfly

Forevergreen

The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Retirement Plan

The Three Sisters

Achievement in cinematography

Frankenstein

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Train Dreams

Achievement in costume design

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

Sinners

Achievement in directing

Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Best documentary feature film

The Alabama Solution

Come See Me in the Good Light

Cutting Through Rocks

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

The Perfect Neighbor

Best documentary short film

All the Empty Rooms

Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud

Children No More: Were and Are Gone

The Devil Is Busy

Perfectly a Strangeness

Achievement in film editing

F1

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Best international feature film

The Secret Agent, Brazil

It Was Just an Accident, France

Sentimental Value, Norway

Sirāt, Spain

The Voice of Hind Rajab, Tunisia

Achievement in casting

Hamnet, Nina Gold

Marty Supreme, Jennifer Venditti

One Battle after Another, Cassandra Kulukundis

The Secret Agent, Gabriel Domingues

Sinners, Francine Maisler

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

Frankenstein, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

Kokuho, Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu

Sinners, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry

The Smashing Machine, Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein

The Ugly Stepsister, Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Original Score

Bugonia, Jerskin Fendrix

Frankenstein, Alexandre Desplat

Hamnet, Max Richter

One Battle after Another, Jonny Greenwood

Sinners, Ludwig Goransson

Original Song

'KPop Demon Hunters' is a viral smash that crushes the songs

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'KPop Demon Hunters' is a viral smash that crushes the songs

"Dear Me" from Diane Warren: Relentless; music and lyric by Diane Warren

"Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters; 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; music and lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson

"Sweet Dreams of Joy" from Viva Verdi!; music and lyric by Nicholas Pike

"Train Dreams" from Train Dreams; music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; lyric by Nick Cave

Achievement in production design

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Best live action short film

Butcher's Stain

A Friend of Dorothy

Jane Austen's Period Drama

The Singers

Two People Exchanging Saliva

Achievement in sound

'Sirāt' is a desert survival story — and one of the year's most gripping films

F1

Frankenstein

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Sirāt

Achievement in visual effects

America Ferrera and Matthew McConaughey in The Lost Bus.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Lost Bus' brings you on board for a terrifying wildfire evacuation

Avatar: Fire and Ash

F1

Jurassic World Rebirth

The Lost Bus

Sinners

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein.

Bugonia, screenplay by Will Tracy

Frankenstein, written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro

Hamnet, screenplay by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell

One Battle after Another, written by Paul Thomas Anderson

Train Dreams, screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Blue Moon, written by Robert Kaplow

It Was Just an Accident, written by Jafar Panahi; script collaborators: Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian

Marty Supreme, written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie

Sentimental Value, written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Sinners, written by Ryan Coogler

Presenters at the ceremony

The Academy has confirmed a diverse group of presenters for the program. Nicole Kidman, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal, Rose Byrne, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, and Sigourney Weaver are among the most recent names to be confirmed. Bill Pullman and Lewis Pullman will appear as a father-son presenting duet in a one-of-a-kind segment during the event.

Previous presenters include Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Anne Hathaway, Paul Mescal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Javier Bardem, Chase Infiniti, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Maya Rudolph, and Adrien Brody. The event will also feature award presentations from actors Mikey Madison, Kieran Culkin, and Zoe Saldaña.

Special performances.

The program will also include numerous unique performances inspired by some of the year's most popular films. Musical portions based on Sinners and KPop Demon Hunters are intended to bring a high-energy musical aspect to the event.

Increased security prior of the event.

Security has been enhanced around the event in response to reports warning California officials of the danger of a retaliation drone assault on the West Coast. According to ABC News, the FBI recently notified law enforcement agencies across California about intelligence indicating that Iran may fire drones toward the US West Coast in retribution for American military efforts.

Executive producers Katy Mullan and Raj Kapoor spoke at a news conference on Wednesday morning of the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre about safety concerns surrounding the high-profile event. "I believe that on this event, we have one of the greatest teams in the business in all aspects, particularly our security staff. So, naturally, we keep track of what is going on in the globe every year. We have the FBI and LAPD's backing, and we're working closely together," Kapoor added.

He noted that the planners take their job seriously: "This concert must operate like clockwork. But we want everyone who comes to this concert, who witnesses it, or who is a fan of the act, to feel secure, protected, and welcome as they stand outside the barricades."