Sinners earned a record sixteen Oscar nominations, including Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay, surpassing Titanic’s fourteen in 1997 and exceeding previous top nominees like All About Eve and La La Land.
The Oakland, California, native and filmmaker’s reaction to the nominations on Thursday was “I did not have any expectations when it came to the recognition of what they [the team] did. For me, people just showing up to the movies and having a good time, that would’ve been enough,” when speaking to Deadline.
Jesse Grant/Deadline
Coogler, who known for his movies like Fruitvale Station, Creed, and Black Panther, and not that of a thriller like Sinners, said when asked about making a movie in the horror genre, “I haven’t had a chance to think about it on the genre thought, but as far as pride in what we made and how we made it, I was so thankful that everybody said yes to this movie. My partners included, because I knew that the movie on the surface could be read as very strange. And I say that in the best of ways, because I also really love strange movies. Those are the movies that I always admired. And I always admired the bravery of artists that were able to make movies that were kind of undefinable when it came to genre, and scary movies and movies that went there in any particular way.” as reported by Deadline.
The Sinners nominations also included (Best Actor) Michael B. Jordan, (Best Supporting Actor) Delroy Lindo. The film was also nominated in the categories of Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score.
The complete list of the 98th Oscar nominees is available on the Academy’s website. The 2026 Oscars air on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
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