One Battle After Another wins PGA top prize as Oscars 2026 looms
Paul Thomas Anderson’s darkly comedic action‑thriller One Battle After Another won the Producers Guild’s top prize at the PGA ceremony in Beverly Hills on Saturday, strengthening its position as the front‑runner as oscars 2026 approaches and with Oscar voting set to end on Thursday.
PGA ceremony in Beverly Hills and the 37th annual awards in Los Angeles
The big winners of the 37th annual PGA Awards were revealed tonight in Los Angeles, with One Battle After Another taking home the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for outstanding theatrical motion picture. The PGA honor was presented at a ceremony in Beverly Hills, where the Guild also announced winners across television, animation and documentary categories.
One Battle After Another’s awards roll: BAFTA and Directors Guild momentum
One Battle After Another has prevailed at major ceremonies in recent weeks, winning best picture at the British Academy Film Awards last week and giving Paul Thomas Anderson the top honor at the Directors Guild earlier this month. That streak has helped cement the film as an awards‑season frontrunner and propelled its PGA victory into the conversation about oscars 2026.
Sinners, the Actor Awards and the SAG‑AFTRA ensemble prize
No other movie this season has shown comparable strength besides Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which scored a record‑breaking 16 Oscar nominations in January. Sinners has one more chance to reverse the tide: it will compete against One Battle After Another for the cast award at the Actor Awards on Sunday. That ensemble honor, handed out by SAG‑AFTRA voters, is considered the most prestigious prize from those voters but is not as strong a precursor as the PGA’s best film; still, Parasite did win the SAG ensemble right before the 2020 Oscars.
How the PGA historically tracks with the Academy ahead of Oscars 2026
Historically, the PGA has been a bellwether. Since 2009, when both the Producers Guild and the motion picture academy expanded their best picture nominee slates from five to 10 and adopted a preferential ballot, the PGA winner has gone on to win best picture all but three times. The Zanuck Award has aligned with the Academy Award winner for Best Picture 17 of the past 22 years. The last time the groups diverged came six years ago when the PGA winner 1917 lost the Oscar to Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, which surged in momentum in the weeks leading up to the 2020 Oscars. Last year the PGA gave the Zanuck Award to Anora, and that selection aligned with the Academy.
Full list of PGA winners and additional Guild honors
The Guild released a full slate of winners across multiple categories. The winners named include:
- Darryl F. Zanuck Award (outstanding theatrical motion picture): One Battle After Another
- Outstanding animated theatrical motion picture: KPop Demon Hunters
- Norman Felton Award (outstanding episodic television — drama): The Pitt
- Danny Thomas Award (outstanding episodic television — comedy): The Studio
- David L. Wolper Award (outstanding limited or anthology series): Adolescence
- Outstanding televised or streamed motion picture: John Candy: I Like Me
- Outstanding nonfiction television: Pee‑wee as Himself
- Outstanding live entertainment, variety, sketch, standup and talk series: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
- Outstanding game and competition television: The Traitors
- Outstanding documentary film: My Mom Jayne
Earlier in the week, the Guild put a spotlight on the Children’s, Sports, Shortform and Innovation categories on Thursday. On Thursday, Lydia Dean Pilcher received the Vance Van Petten Entrepreneurial Spirit Producing Award, and Jessica Li was announced as the recipient of the Debra Hill Fellowship supporting emerging producers.
The Producers Guild will also honor a trio of industry figures with career awards this weekend: Jason Blum will receive the Milestone Award, Amy Pascal will be presented with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award, and Mara Brock Akil will be presented with the Norman Lear Achievement Award.
Where things stand as voting closes
With the PGA win, One Battle After Another strengthens its case in the closing days before oscars 2026. Oscar voting ends on Thursday, and the Actor Awards on Sunday present the final notable contest between One Battle After Another and Sinners for a significant ensemble recognition ahead of the Academy vote.
