Oscars 2026: Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler secure their first Oscar wins
Ryan Coogler accepts the original screenplay award for ‘Sinners’ onstage during the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Paul Thomas Anderson has gone from Oscar nominee to Academy Award winner, as his film One Battle After Another won best adapted screenplay at the 2026 Oscars.
“I owe a huge debt of adoration and love to Thomas Pynchon,” he began his speech, paying tribute to the novelist behind the 1990 novel Vineland, which loosely inspired One Battle After Another.
“Any writer knows that … your special thanks is really to your family and the people that you share a roof with that put up with what it means to live with a writer,” Anderson said. “I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them, but also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”
The award marks PTA’s first Oscar. Also securing his first Academy Award was Ryan Coogler, whose movie Sinners won best original screenplay.
During his speech, Coogler thanked the academy for recognizing the film and his fellow nominees for “the gifts that your movies were and for y’all friendship over the past couple years and months.” He expressed gratitude to Warner Bros., the cast and crew of Sinners, his parents, producer Sev Ohanian and his partner, Zinzi Coogler, whom he called “the best mom and wife in the world.”
“Every day I get to spend with you is better than the one that came before it,” he said to Zinzi. He then shared a message to his children. “I apologize for all the time away. Dad loves you. Memories are all we have. I hope I give you some great ones,” he said. “When y’all blessed to live a long life, and dad becomes just a memory, I want y’all to remember this one thing: I love y’all more than anything.”
The Paramount Pictures logo is displayed on a water tower in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 17, 2026. (Michael Yanow/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Stars from across Hollywood are expressing their opposition to the Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance deal that rocked the entertainment industry earlier this year.
Jane Fonda, Don Cheadle, Rosanna Arquette, Ben Stiller and Joaquin Phoenix are just a few of the more than 1,000 Hollywood professionals who signed their names on an open letter expressing opposition to the studio merger.
“As filmmakers, documentarians, and professionals across the movie and television industry, we write to express our unequivocal opposition to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger,” the letter opens.
The note continues, “This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it.”
According to a February release announcing the sale, Paramount plans to acquire Warner Bros. in a transaction valued at about $110 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Paramount will pay “$31.00 per share in cash for all outstanding shares of WBD.”
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, “subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances and approval by WBD shareholders, with a vote expected in the early spring of 2026.”
Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid in December to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, just days after Netflix struck a deal to purchase a large part of the media giant.
The letter from the stars of Hollywood cites some of the potential downsides of the deal as “fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world.”
The letter also notes the merger leaves only four major studios remaining in the U.S.
The note, which is also signed by names like Mark Duplass, Javier Bardem, Ilana Glazer, Noah Wyle, Tiffany Haddish and Jason Bateman, summarizes some of the effects of studio consolidation.
“We have witnessed a steep decline in the number of films produced and released, alongside a narrowing of the kinds of stories that are financed and distributed. Increasingly, a small number of powerful entities determine what gets made — and on what terms — leaving creators and independent businesses with fewer viable paths to sustain their work,” the letter reads.
The letter also claims the consolidating media landscape “accelerated the disappearance of the mid-budget film, the erosion of independent distribution, the collapse of the international sales market, the elimination of meaningful profit participation, and the weakening of screen credit integrity.”
The group said they were “deeply concerned by indications of support” for the deal, which it says would harm the creative community and several of the small businesses therein.
“Competition is essential for a healthy economy and a healthy democracy,” the letter concludes, in part.
Along with the aforementioned signatories were names like Alyssa Milano, Ramy Youssef, Rosario Dawson, Mark Ruffalo, David Fincher, JJ Abrams, Kristen Stewart, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ted Danson, Rose Byrne and Denis Villeneuve.
Paramount responded to the letter in a statement to ABC News.
“We hear and understand the concerns that some in our creative community have raised and respect the commitment to protecting and expanding creativity,” the company said.
The statement also emphasized the “need for strong, creative-first and well-capitalized companies.”
The studio highlighted what it said are potential advantages to the deal, claiming Paramount will be able to “greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers, and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale.”
Paramount noted its “commitment” to investing in the industry, with examples including “increasing output to a minimum of 30 high-quality feature films annually with full theatrical releases.”
“Paramount remains deeply committed to talent, and this merger strengthens both consumer choice and competition, creating greater opportunities for creators, audiences and the communities they live and work in,” Paramount’s statement concluded.
ABC News has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for any statement on the letter.
Pink’s transformation into the ultimate Broadway mom is complete: She’s hosting the Tony Awards in June.
Pink’s daughter, Willow Hart Sage, has set her sights on being a Broadway star, so Pink has moved the family to New York City to help her pursue her dream. Pink has also taken Willow to multiple shows, complete with cast meet-and-greets, and sent the teen out to interview Broadway stars when she guest-hosted The Kelly Clarkson Show.
But the Tony Awards is some next-level stuff. Pink says in a statement, “When I was asked to host the Tonys, I immediately thought, ‘I have to get permission from my daughter.’ I’ve never been on Broadway, and shouldn’t you have to have been on Broadway in order to host? That seems fair and right.”
“But when I asked my daughter, she was really excited about being able to have a ticket to go to the Tonys, so I’m hosting the Tonys and I’m really, really, excited and very nervous because that girl is a tough crowd!”
On Instagram, Pink posted a video of herself fulfilling her Tony Awards host requirement to be “on Broadway” by stepping one foot onto the stage during a performance of The Great Gatsby.
“Special thanks to the team at @bwaygatsby for letting me share the stage, even just for a moment,” she wrote.
The 79th annual Tony Awards will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on June 7.
Joel Smallbone attends Lionsgate’s ‘The Unbreakable Boy’ New York premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on Feb. 19, 2025, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
A version of “The Little Drummer Boy” by the Australian duo for KING + COUNTRY has been returning to the charts every holiday season for the past few years. Now it seems the song has inspired a movie.
Joel Smallbone will co-direct and star in the film, Drummer Boy, set to hit theaters Nov. 6. A press release describes it as a “Christmas musical about two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the American Revolutionary War.”
Joel’s co-director is his brother Ben Smallbone; there are seven Smallbone siblings in all, including Joel’s bandmate Luke Smallbone. Joel and Ben say in a statement that the “fabric of the film” is “a nation built on 250 years of independence” and “a Christmas story that began over 2,000 years ago.”
They go on to say that Drummer Boy is a movie “created by brothers, about brothers,” adding, “We’re humbled beyond words to bring it to life.”
Joel also has a role in Young Washington, a film about George Washington’s early years. It stars Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammer, Mary-Louise Parker and Andy Serkis, and will hit theaters on Independence Day weekend.
