31st Annual Critics Choice Awards Nominations

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced yesterday, December 5, the nominees for the 2026 edition of the Critcs Choice Awards and Sinners leads the pack with an impressive 17 nominations, nearley matching the record of 18 that Barbie achieved two years ago. One Battle After Another follows with 14 nominations plus Hamnet and Frankenstein with 11 each.

The CCA is a group of broadcast, radio, online critcs, and entertainment journalist who review films and television. Founded 31 years ago by Joey Berlin, Rod Lurie and 42 founding members, the CCA is now the largest critics organization in USA and Canada with more than 600 members. In 2024 the group members were 34% female and 65% male, 29% is non-white and 19% is LGBTQ+ making this group one of the most diverse group in the industry. Probalby that's why their choices reflect more diversity than their counterparts. Remember this group is the one that wants to fill the void left by former Golden Glboes, former because now Golden Globes are handled by an entertainment company and are not a group of film critics or journalists.

Awards ceremony gala will be hosted by Chelsea Handler on Sunday, January 4, 2026 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and will broadcast live on E! and USA Network.

The Nominations

Best Picture
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Jay Kelly
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams
Wicked: For Good

Best Comedy
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Eternity
Friendship
The Naked Gun
The Phoenician Scheme
Splitsville

Best Animated Feature
Arco
Elio
In Your Dreams
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Best Foreign Language Film
Belén
It Was Just an Accident
Left-Handed Girl
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sirāt

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler for Sinners.
Guillermo del Toro for Frankenstein
Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme
Joachin Trier for Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao for Hamnet

Best Original Screenplay
Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer for Jay Kelly
Ronal Bronstein and Josh Sadfie for Marty Supreme
Ryan Coogler for Sinners
Zach Cregger for Weapons
Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby
Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar for Train Dreams
Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar and Jahye Lee for No Other Choice
Guillermo del Toro for Frankenstein
Will Tracy for Bugonia
Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell for Hamnet

Best Actress
Jessie Buckley in Hamnet
Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another
Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value
Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone in Bugonia

Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value 
Ariana Grande in Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan in Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners
Teyana Taylor in One Battle After Another

Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another
Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams
Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan in Sinners
Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent

Best Supporting Actor
Benicio del Toro in One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein 
Paul Mescal in Hamnet
Sean Penn in One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly
Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value

Best Young Performer
Everett Blunck in The Plague
Miles Canton in Sinners
Cary Cristopher in Weapons
Shannon Mahina Gorman in Rental Family
Jacobi Jupe in Hamnet
Nina Ye in Left-Handed Girl

Best Casting and Ensemble
Nina Gold for Hamnet
Douglas Aibel and Nina Gold for Jay Kelly
Jennifer Venditti for Marty Supreme
Cassandra Kulukundis for One Battle After Another
Francine Maisler for Sinners
Tiffany Little Canfield and Bernard Telsey for Wicked: For Good

Best Cinematography
Claudio Miranda for F1
Dan Laustsen for Frankenstein 
Łukasz Żal for Hamnet
Michael Bauman for One Battle After Another
Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Sinners
Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams

Production Design
Kasta Farahani and Jille Azis for The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau for Frankenstein 
Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton for Hamnet
Jack Fisk and Adam Willis for Marty Supreme
Hannah Beachler and Monique Champagne for Sinners
Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales for Wicked: For Good

Best Editing
Kirk Baxter for A House of Dynamite
Stephen Mirrione for F1
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme
Andy Jurgensen for One Battle After Another
Viridiana Liberman for The Perfect Neighbor
Michael P. Shawver for Sinners

Best Costume Design
Kate Hawley for Frankenstein
Malgosia Turzanska for Hamnet
Lindsay Pugh for Hedda
Colleen Atwood and Christine Cantella for Kiss of the Spider Woman
Ruth E. Carter for Sinners
Paul Tazewell for Wicked: For Good

Best Hair and Makeup
Flora Moody and John Nolan for 28 Years Later
Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey for Frankenstein
Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, and Shunika Terry for Sinners
Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, and Mia Neal for The Smashing Machine
Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, and Jason Collins for Weapons
Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, and Laura Blount for Wicked: For Good

Best Visual Effects
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett for Avatar: Fire and Ash
Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, and Keith Dawson for F1
Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, and José Granell for Frankenstein
Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, and Kirstin Hall for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, and Donnie Dean for Sinners
Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, and Guy Williams for Superman

Best Stunt Design
Stephen Dunlevy, Kyle Gardiner, Jackson Spidell, Jeremy Marinas, Jan Petřina, Domonkos Párdányi, and Kinga Kósa-Gavalda for Ballerina
Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta, and Craig Dolby for F1
Wade Eastwood for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Brian Machleit for One Battle After Another
Andy Gill for Sinners
Giedrius Nagys for Warfare

Best Song
“Drive” by Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, and Blake Slatkin for F1
“Golden” by Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, and Teddy for KPop Demon Hunters
“I Lied to You” by Raphael Saadiq, and Ludwig Göransson for Sinners
“Clothed by the Sun” by Daniel Blumberg for The Testament of Ann Lee
“Train Dreams” by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner for Train Dreams
“The Girl in the Bubble” by Stephen Schwartz for Wicked: For Good

Best Score
Hans Zimmer for F1
Alexandre Desplat for Frankenstein
Max Richter for Hamnet
Daniel Lopatin for Marty Supreme
Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After Another
Ludwig Göransson for Sinners

Best Sound
Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, and Gareth John for F1
Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, and Greg Chapman for Frankenstein
Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, and Tony Villaflor for One Battle After Another
Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco, and David V. Butler for Sinners
Laia Casanovas for Sirāt 
Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, and Richard Spooner for Warfare

Film Nominations by Company

Warner Bros. – 36
Netflix – 27
Warner Bros plus Netflix = 64 nominations (Possible merger by 2026)

Focus Features – 16
Neon – 16
A24 – 15
Apple Original Films – 7
Universal Pictures – 7
Paramount Pictures – 3
Searchlight Pictures – 3
Amazon MGM Studios – 2
20th Century Studios – 1
GKIDS – 1
Independent Film Company – 1
Lionsgate – 1
Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions – 1
Marvel Studios – 1
Sony Pictures – 1
Sony Pictures Classics – 1
Walt Disney Animation Studios – 1
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures – 1

To check nominations, including television categories, go to official site here.

Nominations Announcement Video