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Oscar nominations 2026: Who got snubbed

Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times on

Published in Entertainment News

On Oscar-nomination morning Thursday, it was a very happy wake-up call for “Sinners” (a historical 16 nominations, breaking the record of 14 jointly held by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land”), “One Battle After Another” (13 nominations), “Marty Supreme” (nine nominations), and this year’s little-movie-that-could, “Train Dreams” (four nominations). But those films will be getting plenty of attention in the coming weeks before the Oscar ceremony in March, so let’s pause this morning to pay a little attention to those that — sometimes rather surprisingly — weren’t nominated this year.

Though it was widely acknowledged that “Wicked: For Good” didn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, 2024’s “Wicked” (which received 10 Oscar nominations and two wins), I wouldn’t have predicted that the sequel would be completely blanked — including in costume design and production design, the two categories it won last year. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, once considered locks in the female acting categories, were shut out.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” in another case of a fading sequel, received only two nominations (visual effects and costume design) — a faint echo of “Avatar” in 2009, which received nine nominations including best picture.

In acting surprises, the strong showing of “One Battle After Another” didn’t extend to Chase Infiniti, who was nudged out of best actress (possibly due to her role being a relatively small one for the category). That logic wouldn’t apply to Amanda Seyfried, unrecognized for her passionate work in the title role of “The Testament of Ann Lee” (a film entirely ignored Thursday morning). “Jay Kelly,” which had inspired talk of Adam Sandler being nominated for supporting actor, went without recognition. And while “Hamnet” overall had an excellent morning with eight nominations, Paul Mescal’s delicate supporting performance as young William Shakespeare didn’t get a nod.

 

The move in recent years to 10 best picture nominees while still only five in best director means that every year some deserving directors get snubbed — but I would have thought three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro would have been a lock for “Frankenstein.” He’ll have to settle for a writing nomination.

“It Was Just an Accident,” the Palme d’Or-winning film from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, seemed to have a shot at cracking the best picture roster; instead, it’ll settle for an international feature film nod.

Finally, though it never seemed to have much traction in this year’s awards conversation, I was sorry to see no recognition for Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda,” particularly Tessa Thompson’s searing performance in the title role and Lindsay Pugh’s beautiful costumes.


©2026 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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