By Sofia Brooke
The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 15 March at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
The gala is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and this year will have nominations from films released in 2025.
The 2026 ceremony will bring together classic and new time nominees.
The Oscar nominations
AMPAS will present awards for 24 categories from best actor in a leading role to best costume design.
Actors and films nominated include: the horror “Sinners” by Ryan Coogler, sports-comedy drama “Marty Supreme” by Josh Safdie, historical drama “Hamnet” by Chloe Zhao, and Norwegian drama “Sentimental Value” by Joachim Trier.
Despite many nominated films including famous actors such as Timothee Chalamet, Zootopia 2 was the highest-grossing nominated film taking £1.3 billion worldwide.
A new category was also introduced for this year’s gala for best casting.
First-time nominees
Other than the expected nominees such as Leonardo Di Caprio, there are also a number of first-time nominees this year.
Michael B. Jordan is nominated for his first Oscar for his lead role as twin brothers Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter he said: “I’ve been in this industry for a long time.
“I’ve admired and seen the Academy and the other actors in the movies and filmmakers that I’ve looked up to and been inspired by my whole life.
“To be in those conversations and in that company is a solidifying feeling.”
Wagner Moura is the first Brazilian actor to be nominated as the lead in “The Secret Agent”, a historical political thriller.
The actor told E! News: “I just feel very proud and I hope that this would open space for that to happen again to other Brazilian [and] other South American actors.”
Norwegian Renate Reinsve is nominated for her lead role in “Sentimental Value” as is Rose Byrne for her role in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”.
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Who missed out on nominations
Jubilation for the nominations also followed criticism towards the Oscars for snubbing other movies and actors.
Despite the first Wicked film being nominated for 10 awards last year, its sequel “Wicked: For Good” was not nominated for any categories for the 98th ceremony.
Michelle Yeoh, who plays Madame Morrible in the film said: “I’m not surprised. I am in shock!
“It’s such a beautiful, well-made movie… So I was truly, truly very disappointed.”
Other snubs included Paul Mescal who played William Shakespeare in Hamnet and Emily Blunt in “The Smashing Machine”.
Host and presenters
The Oscars is not just known for its nominees but also the entertainment during the ceremony which often has high-profile comedians and actors as host and award presenters.
Comedian Conan O’Brien will host this year’s ceremony for the third consecutive year.
The 2026 award presenter line-up includes actors Nicole Kidman, Pedro Pascal and presenter Jimmy Kimmel.
Voting process and nomination controversies
AMPAS has 11,000 film industry artists and leaders as members who participate in the Oscars voting and is done through a secret online ballot.
Best Picture nominations are determined by eligible members from all 19 academy branches and in other categories nominations are determined by a specific branch of voters that meet the requirements.
The Academy has been criticised in the past for lacking diversity in its nominations.
The #OscarsSoWhite campaign started after there were no people of colour nominated in the 2015 ceremony.
In 2020, The Oscars announced that new representation and inclusion standards for the eligibility in the Best Picture category would be introduced to address the lack of diversity.
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