After months of campaigning, precursors, and shifting momentum, the 2026 Oscar nominations finally arrived Thursday morning — and the results proved just how volatile this year’s race truly was.
The Academy embraced a mix of expected favorites and bold curveballs, lifting up surprise contenders like F1 in Best Pictures and Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue while leaving several once-assumed frontrunners on the outside looking in. Major names including Ariana Grande and the entire cast and crew of Wicked failed to land nominations many believed were all but guaranteed, instantly rewriting the narrative across multiple categories.
With emotions running high and awards prognosticators scrambling to reassess the field, here are the biggest snubs and surprises from the 2026 Oscar nominations.
SNUB: ‘Wicked’ completely shut out
Image Credit: Giles Keyte/Universal
Second act problems, indeed! After collecting 10 nominations and two wins for its first part, Wicked: For Good received no nominations. No Best Picture. No nod for Cynthia Erivo. Nothing for Ariana Grande. Stephen Schwartz went 0-for-2 on his new original songs. Even the Oscar-winning work of costume design Paul Tazewell didn’t sneak in. Ding-dong.
SURPRISE: ‘F1,’ Best Picture
Image Credit: Apple/Warner Bros.
The Academy must simply have a need for speed. Three years after Top Gun: Maverick flew into Best Picture, another adrenaline-fueled, Joseph Kosinski-directed, Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film, F1, did the same. And thanks to a producer credit, two-time winner Brad Pitt picked up his eighth nomination.
SNUB: Chase Infiniti, Best Actress
Image Credit: Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection
Maybe it was the category — after all, she doesn’t show up until the second half of the film. Or maybe it was the competition — she’s up against some powerhouse A-list names who are indisputably the leads of their projects. Or maybe it just wasn’t her time yet, given that this was her feature film debut. Whatever the reason, the actors’ branch inexplicably decided that among One Battle After Another’s nomination haul, Chase Infiniti didn’t make the cut. Paging the French 75!
SURPRISE: Kate Hudson, Best Actress
Image Credit: Focus Features
It was 25 years ago that Kate Hudson was last nominated for an Oscar (for Almost Famous) — and now she can finally add another nod to her mantle. It’s not easy being the sole nominee from any given film, but the likable Hudson was able to channel her immense popularity — not to mention her famous parents’ support — and well-received performance in Song Sung Blue to Academy recognition.
SNUB: Paul Mescal, Best Supporting Actor
Image Credit: Focus Features
The play wasn’t the thing for Hamnet’s version of William Shakespeare. In a tragic turn of events for fans of Chloé Zhao’s period drama, Mescal missed out on a Best Supporting Actor nod even as costar Jessie Buckley nabbed her inevitable Best Actress nod. To be or not to be an Oscar contender? ‘Twas not to be.
SURPRISE: Delroy Lindo, Best Supporting Actor
Image Credit: Warner Bros.
Delta Slim abides. After years of near-misses, one of Hollywood’s hardest-working, most-respected character actors has a date with Oscar. Lindo rode the Sinners wave into a Best Supporting Actor nomination, just inching past costar Miles Caton as well as Hamnet’s Paul Mescal. We’re not singing the blues about that result.
SNUB: Park Chan-wook, ‘No Other Choice’
Image Credit: CJ-ENM/Neon
The acclaimed filmmaker was once again blanked on Oscar morning. No Other Choice fell just outside the Best Adapted Screenplay lineup, while a crowded Best International Feature race — led by The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, plus late surges from Sirât and The Voice of Hind Rajab — ultimately left Park on the outside yet again.
SURPRISE: Elle Fanning, Best Supporting Actress
Image Credit: Neon
Two Sentimental Value actresses entered the Oscar race… and both crossed the finish line. Given the choice between Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Fanning, voters lauded each actress with a nod with Fanning’s nuanced portrayal of a Hollywood starlet who gets involved in some very messy family drama finishing ahead of a surging Odessa A’zion. It’s the first nomination for Fanning, who previously received an Emmy nod for her great star turn on The Great.
SURPRISE: ‘Blue Moon,’ Best Original Screenplay
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Classics/Courtesy Everett Collection
Robert Kaplow’s script for the “musical theater drama” drama broke into a competitive field after an award season of uncertainty. Would Ethan Hawke be the only nominee from the beloved — but admittedly smaller (in more ways than one) — film? Did the two-film year of director Richard Linklater, who also directed Nouvelle Vague, pull much attention away? Nope! The conversation-heavy script made it in alongside several Best Picture contenders.
SNUBS: Amazon MGM Studios, Paramount shut out
Image Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
Despite the star power of Julia Roberts and Luca Guadagnino, Amazon MGM Studios got blanked at this year’s Oscars, failing to earning any nominations at all for a slate that included After the Hunt, Nia DeCosta’s Hedda starring Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss, and international feature Belen. That marks the studio’s first complete shutout since 2015. Similarly, Paramount was also left out of the race, with voters shunning the Tom Cruise-starring Mission: Impossible and Roofman, with Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst.
SURPRISE: ‘Viva Verdi’ in Best Song
Image Credit: Viva Verdi! Productions
Viva Verdi is such an underrated film, it didn’t even have a Wikipedia page as of press time. But its original song, “Sweet Dreams of Joy,” from composer and lyricist Nicholas Pike, still managed to squeak into the Best Song lineup on Oscar nominations morning. The Italian movie is directed by Yvonne Russo and tells the story of a unique retirement home that focuses on legendary aging artists with a love for music.
SNUB: ‘Jay Kelly’ blanked
Image Credit: Peter Mountain/Netflix
The Sandman’s wait continues. Despite some early buzz and discussion around its chances in Best Actor, Original Screenplay, and especially Best Supporting Actor for Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly failed to secure any nominations.