Oscar 2026: Sinners Breaks Record While Wicked Snubbed 

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners makes Oscar history with 16 nods as Wicked: For Good fails to secure nominations.

Oscar 2026

Can a movie make half a billion USD and still be invisible to the most powerful voters in Hollywood? On Thursday, January 22, the 98th Academy Award nominations provided a brutal answer.

While fans expected the emerald glow of Wicked: For Good to dominate the morning, the film was met with a deafening silence. Not a single nomination.

No Best Actress for Cynthia Erivo. No Supporting nod for Ariana Grande. Just a cold reminder that in the eyes of the Academy, lightning rarely strikes twice in the same Broadway adaptation.

The Fall of the Witches 

The snub is particularly stinging given the pedigree. The first installment of Wicked was an Oscar darling, bagging ten nominations and walking away with two trophies.

This time, even with a staggering $524 million USD global haul, the Academy looked the other way.

Erivo and Grande had spent months as mainstays in the awards conversation, picking up Golden Globe and Critics Choice mentions.

But when the final ballot arrived, they were replaced by the gritty, the supernatural, and the “serious.”

The Night the Sinners Took Over 

While Oz went dark, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners lit up the record books. It didn’t just lead the pack; it rewrote history.

With 16 nominations, it surpassed the legendary 14-nod ceiling previously shared by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land.

• The Concept: A 1930s Mississippi blues club under siege by racism and vampires.
• The Impact: Michael B. Jordan, playing twins, secured a Leading Actor slot, while the film swept every major technical and creative category.
• The New Era: Sinners also claimed a spot in the Academy’s inaugural casting prize, proving that Coogler’s ensemble was peerless.

What Most People Get Wrong About Oscar Momentum 

There is a common belief that if you win a Golden Globe or a Critics’ Choice award, you are a lock for the Oscar. This is a dangerous assumption.

• The “Musical” Handicap: The Academy often views musicals as technical achievements rather than acting showcases. Once the “novelty” of Part 1 wore off, the acting performances in Wicked: For Good were treated as secondary to the spectacle.
• Genre Snobbery vs. Genre Evolution: People often think horror or supernatural films are ignored. Sinners proves that if the social commentary—in this case, 1930s racism—is sharp enough, the Academy will embrace the vampires.

A Family Affair 

For Ryan Coogler, the moment was surreal. He recounted his father sitting on his doorstep in Los Angeles, meticulously keeping count as the names were read.

When the tally hit 16, even the director didn’t believe it. He thought his father had miscounted. He hadn’t.

Coogler has crafted something that One Battle After Another—the DiCaprio and Sean Penn vehicle with 13 nominations—now has to chase.

The 2026 Oscars will be remembered as the year the “safe” musical bet was abandoned for a risky, blood-soaked historical thriller.

It is a reminder that in Hollywood, the only thing more powerful than a box office hit is a movie that changes the rules of the game.

Summary of Key Points

• Wicked: For Good received zero nominations despite its massive $524 million USD box office success.
• Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were completely snubbed after being nominated for Golden Globes earlier this year.
• Sinners broke the all-time record with 16 nominations, surpassing Titanic and La La Land.
• Ryan Coogler’s film is a supernatural thriller that combines 1930s history with vampire horror.