The biggest snubs and surprises of this year’s Oscar nominations | Ents & Arts News

While Sinners has surpassed all expectations at this year’s Oscar nominations, coming away with a whopping 16 nods, not all movies will be coming away from the nominations with the same happy glow.

Wicked: For Good may have done fairly swift business at the box office, but that simply did not translate into Oscar votes.

Read more: Oscar nominations 2026 as it happened

After the first instalment of the movie got 10 nods last year, the second part did not receive a single nomination.

While its two stars – Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – failed to make it into the best actress and best supporting actress categories, the biggest blow will be missing out on the coveted best picture category.

Meanwhile, Paul Mescal was overlooked in the best supporting actor category for his performance as playwright William Shakespeare in the big-screen adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel Hamnet.

While that’s the category he campaigned in, some felt he would have been placed in the best actor category, raising the possibility that the Irish star split some of his votes if some people put his name in the latter.

Another acting omission was that of Chase Infiniti – breakout star of One Battle After Another, playing the daughter of Leonardo DiCaprio’s washed-up revolutionary.

Read more: Oscar nominations 2026: The full list

After her nomination in the best actress category at the Golden Globes earlier this month, she had been widely expected to appear in the Oscar nominations line-up too.

Her four co-stars – Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn and Teyana Taylor – all made it into the mix.

In a tight race, while Infiniti failed to make the best actress cut, Kate Hudson did make it in for her performance in musical drama Song Sung Blue, which was far from guaranteed.

A recent publicity event at which she was interviewed by her mother, veteran Hollywood star Goldie Hawn, may well have given her the voter boost she needed to get her over the line.

While Mescal and Infiniti missed out, it was a different story for British stars Delroy Lindo, 74, and Wunmi Mosaku, 39, who both got nods for Sinners.

RADA-trained British Nigerian actress Mosaku had made her way into the awards conversation in recent days, but Lindo’s nod for his portrayal of musician Delta Slim was out of the blue.

The London-born actor was critically acclaimed for his performance, but most pundits expected him to be left out in favour of Mescal or Adam Sandler for Jay Kelly.

While Norwegian family drama Sentimental Value got an impressive nine nods overall, it got nothing in the new category, best achievement in casting.

It’s a slightly strange omission, considering it got four nods in the acting categories – Renate Reinsve in best actress in a leading role, both Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in best supporting actress and Stellan Skarsgard in best supporting actor.

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And while gothic horror Frankenstein got nine nods – including best picture – Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro missed out in the best director category.

Formula One blockbuster F1, starring Damson Idris and Brad Pitt, while expected to do well in the technical categories, also managed to nudge its way into the best picture race.

A summer hit, it remains to be seen if it will have the backing to win pole position at this year’s Academy Awards in LA on Sunday, 15 March.