98th Academy Awards Are Tonight — Sinners Chases History With Record 16 Nominations
Hollywood's biggest night is here. The 98th Academy Awards ceremony begins tonight, Sunday March 15, at 7 p.m. ET at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood — and for the first time in Oscar history, a single film arrives with 16 nominations on its back. Ryan Coogler's Sinners didn't just break the record. It shattered it.
When, Where, and How to Watch the 2026 Oscars
The 98th Academy Awards take place tonight at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The main ceremony starts at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT. ABC broadcasts the ceremony live across the United States, and Hulu streams it live for all subscribers at no extra cost.
E! starts two full hours of red carpet arrivals coverage before the main show — the best option for fashion coverage. The show runs three to three and a half hours. Plan for it to wrap somewhere between 10:30 PM and 11:00 PM ET.
Conan O'Brien returns as host for a second consecutive year. "I'm chill, because we've been working really hard. We have a lot of fun ideas," he told ABC News' Lara Spencer. "It doesn't mean a million things won't go wrong or sideways between now and the actual show, but that can be a challenge too."
Sinners Breaks the All-Time Nominations Record
No film in 98 years of Oscar history has arrived with more nominations. With Sinners breaking the record for the most Oscar nominations ever, it may also break the record for most wins by any single movie in Academy Awards history tonight.
The film's cinematographer, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, may become the first woman to win Best Cinematography. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter could become the first Black three-time Oscar winner. Both milestones are within reach before midnight.
One Battle After Another — Paul Thomas Anderson's screwball epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio — follows with 13 nominations and is considered the evening's strongest competition for Best Picture.
The Full Best Picture Field
The 10 Best Picture nominees are: Sinners, One Battle After Another, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Train Dreams, Bugonia, and F1.
The Acting Races
Best Actor nominees are Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).
Best Actress nominees are Jessie Buckley (Hamnet), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), and Emma Stone (Bugonia).
A Historic New Category Debuts Tonight
The Academy Award for Best Casting makes its debut as a competitive category tonight — the first new Oscar in decades. The Academy will present it using the "Fab Five" format, with five nominees introduced by actors from the nominated films.
The Performances, Tributes, and Surprises
Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq perform "I Lied to You" from Sinners, joined on stage by Misty Copeland, Brittany Howard, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Shaboozey, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, and Alice Smith in a full cinematic homage to the film.
EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami — the singing voices of fictional K-pop group Huntrix — perform "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters, blending Korean instrumentalists and dance inspired by the film's folklore roots.
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are set to honor director Rob Reiner, who died on December 14, 2025. Barbra Streisand is in talks to perform during the In Memoriam segment honoring Robert Redford, who died in September 2025.
On the security front, the LAPD deployed approximately 1,000 private security officers alongside uniformed police, surveillance cameras, and drones — following an FBI warning of a possible attack on California by Iran.
The 98th Academy Awards are live tonight at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and Hulu.
