Oscars 2026: the biggest winners and losers
The 98th edition of the Academy Awards has been consigned to the history books, and as is inevitably the case at every Oscars, there were shocks, surprises, and some unfortunate losers.
This year, the biggest talking point heading into the ceremony was the battle between Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, with the most-nominated film in history competing against a 13-time nominee in virtually all of the major categories.
As you’d expect, most of the heavyweight awards they were fighting for were split between them, although when it comes to the gongs generally regarded as the most prestigious, one fared better than the other. That said, history was still made on other fronts.
It may have been a largely predictable Oscars, in terms of who won what, but there were still a couple of unexpected results. The downside of every awards show is that there are always going to be winners and losers, and that was no different in 2026.
Oscars 2026 winners and losers:
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson and One Battle After Another
One Battle After Another and Sinners were set to duke it out over almost every one of the Oscars’ biggest prizes, but in terms of individual and collective awards, you’ve got to say that the former had the edge.
After all, Paul Thomas Anderson won both ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for the movie that won ‘Best Picture’, with his incendiary and darkly comedic political thriller also picking up gongs for ‘Best Supporting Actor’, ‘Best Film Editing’, and the inaugural prize for ‘Best Casting’.
Sometimes, the film that everyone expects to win will do just that, and while it wasn’t quite a foregone conclusion that One Battle After Another would emerge as the overall victor of the 98th Oscars, it still managed to live up to the hype as the one to beat.
Winner: Sinners
As mentioned, out of the two titles that were squaring off for Oscars supremacy, it wasn’t as if Ryan Coogler’s Sinners was left on the outside looking in, ruing One Battle After Another for hogging the spotlight.
Coogler claimed ‘Best Original Screenplay’, becoming just the second Black filmmaker to win after Get Out‘s Jordan Peele, Michael B Jordan pulled off what many will consider to be an upset when he stole a march on Timothée Chalamet to take home the ‘Best Actor’ prize, with Autumn Durald Arkapaw making history as the first woman to be named the ‘Best Cinematographer’ winner.
Throw in Ludwig Göransson becoming the youngest-ever three-time Oscar winner for his third ‘Best Original Score’ win, and it was a stellar night for Sinners, all things considered, even if it didn’t win as many Oscars as you might expect from the most-nominated picture in history.
Winner: Javier Bardem
In a time when actors have no problem using their position to wade into political issues, and in a time when they’re being urged not to, so as not to cause controversy or offence, Javier Bardem wasn’t in the mood for beating around the bush when presenting the documentary awards.
Wasting no time in getting to the point, the Oscar-winning actor began his time at the podium by making a declaration: “No to war, and free Palestine.” It was simple, matter-of-fact, and an opportunity to make his feelings known to an audience of millions watching around the world.
For the most part, beyond the obligatory couple of shots thrown in the direction of Donald Trump by Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel, the ceremony didn’t have much of a political bent. At least until Bardem came along, cutting straight through the bullshit to get something important off his chest.
Loser: Timothée Chalamet
Up until very recently, Timothée Chalamet seemed like a lock to win his first Oscar for Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, but Michael B Jordan and the Academy’s voters had a different idea.
Three ‘Best Actor’ nods at the age of 30 is an undeniably impressive achievement, but there will definitely be a school of thought suggesting that Timmy flew too close to the sun, with his outspoken comments and general air of entitlement, that this would be his year coming back to bite him in the arse.
Will Chalamet win an Oscar eventually? Almost certainly, and you’d wager sooner rather than later, too. On the other side of the coin, he gave off the impression of a guy who believed that it would happen for his performance in Marty Supreme, only to walk away empty-handed yet again.
Loser: Diane Warren
At this point, you have to wonder why Diane Warren even bothers with the Oscars anymore, having now gone 17 consecutive nominations without so much as a single competitive victory.
She does have an honorary Academy Award, but she’s officially made the most unwanted kind of history after her latest unsuccessful association with the ceremony has seen her claim pole position as the most-nominated person without a win.
Maybe it’ll happen one day, and anything she does is usually a solid bet to earn what’s almost become a customary nomination, but going zero-for-17 is enough to put a dent in anyone’s confidence. If anything, she might be looking toward Bradley Cooper for hope, since he’s developing his own habit of being the ultimate Oscars bridesmaids, even if he’s still got five to go before he ties with Warren.
Loser: The writers
There was something relentlessly bland about the Oscars this year. While it’s foolish to expect near-the-knuckle comedy and outrageous antics, at least of the scripted variety, the writers were sorely lacking this year, and even though the show literally just ended, it’s impossible to remember even a single quip.
Conan O’Brien has been a solid host for the last couple of years, but there’s only so far he can try to drag the scripts up to his level when they were so sorely lacking in every department. It wasn’t just him, either; did anyone who presented any award have anything to say that was even remotely funny?
The Academy Awards are dedicated to celebrating the best in big-screen entertainment over the last 12 months, but for whatever reason, the people penning the monologues, pre-prepared skits, and one-liners didn’t think of providing Hollywood’s stars with anything funny to say.
