2026 Oscars Predictions & Preview: Who Will Win 98th Academy Awards?
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Oscars week. It’s all been building up to this. Only one can win. And we think we know who it is.
The 98th Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026. Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, The Secret Agent, and more are all vying for Best Picture. It’ll be a show that you won’t want to miss.
Is One Battle After Another or Sinners taking home the top prize this year? Will it be Michael B. Jordan or Timothée Chalamet for Best Actor? KPop Demon Hunters or — it’s going to be KPop Demon Hunters, guys. We have some predictions to share ahead of the annual Oscars awards show, which begins at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT (click here for information on how to watch it).
Best Picture
- Bugonia
- F1
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- The Secret Agent
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
- Train Dreams
It’s a two-horse race between Sinners and One Battle After Another. Could go either way, really, but the way that Sinners has been building such hype over the past year has me thinking it’s taking it. It’s been crushing it during awards season. Don’t be surprised if it absolutely sweeps on Sunday night.
Best Actress
- 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
Congratulations to everyone who got nominated in the category, but you can bet that Jessie Buckley is taking this one pretty easily. She’s not just the front-runner; the Academy could just give her the award now, if they want, because we all know that Buckley is taking this one.
Best Actor
- Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
- Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
- Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
- Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
- Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
This one is more difficult to predict. Not impossible, but more difficult. A month ago, it seemed like Chalamet was going to take it. The tides have turned, somewhat, and it now seems like it’s Jordan’s year. Still could go either way. But I’m betting on Jordan.
Best Supporting Actress
- Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
- Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan, Weapons
- Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
- Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Some really, really good performances in this category this year. All of them are great. But there can only be one. And it seems like a lock that the one will be Teyana Taylor; she’s awesome in One Battle After Another, and she’ll almost certainly be winning.
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
This’ll be the toughest acting category to predict. Again, a month ago, I would’ve bet on Benicio del Toro or Sean Penn. But I’m really thinking Sinners is sweeping this year. Delroy Lindo is long overdue for an Oscar. There’s a great chance he’s going home with one.
Best Director
- Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
- Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
- Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
- Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
- Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Could be Paul Thomas Anderson. Could be Chloé Zhao. Will most likely be Ryan Coogler. Which, well deserved, Sinners doesn’t happen without Ryan Coogler. It’ll be real cool to see him win.
Best Original Screenplay
- Blue Moon
- It Was Just an Accident
- Marty Supreme
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
If Sinners wasn’t in this category, I’d genuinely have no idea who would win. I’d probably vote for Blue Moon, but also, It Was Just an Accident is so well-written, I think I’d be a bit torn? Yeah, but Sinners is in here. And it is definitely, definitely winning.
Best Adapted Screenplay
- Bugonia
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- One Battle After Another
- Train Dreams
Paul Thomas Anderson isn’t going to go home completely empty-handed. Probably. Chloé Zhao could sneak in here for Hamnet, but smart money says that this’ll be where they reward One Battle After Another.
Best Cinematography
- Frankenstein
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- Sinners
- Train Dreams
Now is when things start getting tricky. I do think Sinners is going to sweep a lot of the big awards. But I also think One Battle might do better in the technical categories. They might go with Michael Bauman for One Battle After Another on this one. Could be wrong! Just my gut feeling, here.
Best Original Score
- Bugonia
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- One Battle After Another
- Sinners
Another really tough one where it’s a close race between One Battle After Another and Sinners. I’m choosing One Battle here again just because the score during that car chase in the end, that sticks with you. I mean, the score for Sinners is great, too, obviously. But One Battle’s just feels so incredibly memorable.
Best Editing
- F1
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
Would be really fun to see them give it to, like, Marty Supreme just to get a little more variety in here. But, nah, surprise surprise, it’s probably between Sinners and One Battle After Another once again. One Battle’s got that car chase and all the stuff in Benicio del Toro’s apartment. I think that’ll give it the win.
Best Production Design
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- Sinners
Let’s go with something different, here. Yeah, it could once again be between Sinners and One Battle, but maybe we get a Frankenstein. Maybe that gets some love in this category. It is an incredibly striking movie; I think it can do it. I’m rooting for it to do it.
Best Original Song
- “Dear Me,” Diane Warren: Relentless
- “Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters
- “I Lied to You,” Sinners
- “Sweet Dreams of Joy,” Viva Verdi!
- “Train Dreams,” Train Dreams
Not this year, Diane Warren. Better luck in 2027. Because, out of all the categories and nominations this year, this one is probably the easiest to predict. Golden is, like, the biggest song ever, now. It’s going home with an Oscar.
Best Costume Design
- Avatar: Fire and Ash
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- Sinners
A super easy one. The Academy loves Sinners. The Academy also loves Ruth E. Carter. A chance to award them both? You can be pretty sure that they’re not going to pass up that opportunity.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
- Frankenstein
- Kokuho
- Sinners
- The Smashing Machine
- The Ugly Stepsister
It won’t be The Ugly Stepsister because half the people voting aren’t going to be able to stomach that movie. It won’t be Kokuho because a lot of people probably don’t know what that is. It won’t be The Smashing Machine because it’s The Smashing Machine. It’ll be either Sinners or Frankenstein, and I’m going to have to go with Frankenstein just because of Jacob Elordi’s look in that movie.
Best Sound
- F1
- Frankenstein
- One Battle After Another
- Sinners
- Sirǎt
I’ve got to be honest, I’m somehow always really bad at predicting the sound categories. I don’t know what it is. Just, every year, I seem to get this one wrong. I’m picking Sinners just because I think that’s winning the most on Sunday; they’re going to award it a lot, so it makes sense that they’ll award it in this category, too. Maybe, just maybe, my luck will change this year.
Best Visual Effects
- Avatar: Fire and Ash
- F1
- Jurassic World Rebirth
- The Lost Bus
- Sinners
Best Visual Effects is usually a pretty easy one to predict. Maybe not so much this year. Avatar: Fire and Ash didn’t score a whole lot of nominations, as it’s not up for Best Picture. But people are always saying they love how those movies look. Could be Sinners or even F1, but I’m thinking it’ll be Avatar.
Best International Feature
- It Was Just an Accident
- The Secret Agent
- Sentimental Value
- Sirǎt
- The Voice of Hind Rajab
I’m feeling pretty confident with The Secret Agent. Maybe a little more confident than I would have been if I were filling this out a month ago. The Secret Agent has been winning a lot at other awards shows; it’s a really strong category this year, but Secret Agent seems to be the front-runner.
Best Animated Feature
- Arco
- Elio
- KPop Demon Hunters
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
- Zootopia 2
Yeah, it’s winning Best Original Song, and it’s also winning Best Animated Feature. No question, there. KPop Demon Hunters shall not be defeated.
Best Casting
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- The Secret Agent
- Sinners
This one is so hard to predict because it’s a brand-new category, and it’s hard to know what they’re actually judging here. Like, all of the casting, including the super minor supporting and background characters? Then it might be Marty Supreme. Or the main casting? That can be hard to differeniate it from performances, when it comes to handing out awards. When in doubt? Go with Sinners. We’ll learn a lot from what wins this year, which’ll then make predicting next year easier.
Best Live-Action Short Film
- Butcher’s Stain
- A Friend of Dorothy
- Jane Austen’s Period Drama
- The Singers
- Two People Exchanging Saliva
I heard some really good things about A Friend of Dorothy. I may not be an expert in this category, but that’s what I’m betting on this year.
Best Animated Short Film
- Butterfly
- Forevergreen
- The Girl Who Cried Pearls
- Retirement Plan
- The Three Sisters
I heard some really good things about all five of these, actually. Seems like a strong year for Best Animated Short. Butterfly is my pick!
Best Documentary Feature Film
- The Alabama Solution
- Come See Me in the Good Light
- Cutting Through Rocks
- Mr Nobody Against Putin
- The Perfect Neighbor
I don’t know if there’s a frontrunner, here. Once again, I’ve either heard good things about all of these or have really enjoyed the ones that I’ve seen. Gotta pick one. And I’m going with 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
This is always a tough category, both in predicting who will win and just sitting through them because, more often than not, the nominees here are about really sad subject matter. No exception this year. I think it’ll be The Devil Is Busy.
Source: Comingsoon.net