Road to the Oscars 2026: Fun facts about this year’s nominees
The 98th annual Academy Awards ceremony will be held Sunday, and with this group of nominations come a bunch of interesting facts. Here’s a look at some fun facts about this season’s crop of nominees.
Sinners achieved a rare feat to become the most-nominated film in Oscars history. With 16 nominations, it blew past the previous record holders La La Land, Titanic and All About Eve, which all earned 14 nominations each. Director Ryan Coogler and his producing partner and wife, Zinzi Coogler, are the first Black married couple to earn a nomination in any category. Zinzi Coogler is also the first Filipina producer and the third Black woman nominated for best picture.
International films were particularly dominant across many categories this year. Both Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent picked up many nominations across the board. Both films are up for the coveted best picture prize, as well as the best international feature film award. Stellan Skarsgård received his first-ever Oscar nom for his Sentimental Value performance, marking the first time an actor from a film not in the English language has been nominated in the best supporting actor category.
Speaking of The Secret Agent, its star Wagner Moura is the first Brazilian best actor nominee in Oscars history. He’s the third Brazilian acting nominee overall, after Fernanda Torres received a best actress nomination last year for I’m Still Here and her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, received a nomination in the same category for the 1998 film Central Station.
Much has been said about Timothée Chalamet’s feelings toward ballet and opera. But how about the fact that he is the youngest male actor since Marlon Brando, and second youngest overall, to earn three acting nominations at the Oscars. He’s also nominated for best picture as a producer on Marty Supreme, which, at 30 years and 26 days old, makes him the youngest person to ever be double-nominated for producing and acting in the same year. He just beats out Warren Beatty, who was 30 years, 10 months and 20 days old when he received those nominations for the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.
The Oscars will take place on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show will air live on ABC and will also stream live on Hulu.
The trailer for the upcoming HBO limited series DTF St. Louis has arrived. The new series, which stars JasonBateman, David Harbour and Linda Cardellini, premieres on March 1. It centers on a love triangle between three middle-aged adults that leads to one of them ending up dead. A new episode will debut each week leading up to its finale on April 12, which will air ahead of the Euphoria season 3 premiere …
Even more actors have hopped on to star in the upcoming Netflix series Rabbit, Rabbit. Odessa Young and WillPoulter have joined the cast of the upcoming thriller. They join previously announced stars Adam Driver and Regina Hall. Rabbit, Rabbit tells the story of an escaped convict who takes hostages to bargain for his freedom before he falls into “an emotional poker match with a vertex FBI Crisis Negotiator,” according to an official synopsis from the streamer …
Sydney Sweeney looks to be teaming up with Noah Centineo for a new project. Deadline reports the pair are set to star in a live-action feature adaptation of Gundam for Legendary and Netflix. Gundam is a popular anime that pioneered a sci-fi subgenre centered on giant, fighting robots …
Matt Damon as Odysseus on the poster for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’ (Universal Pictures)
This isn’t an enchantment from a siren: the official trailer for Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey has arrived.
Universal Pictures shared the brand-new trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of Homer‘s epic poem on Monday.
The trailer, which is just under two minutes, finds Matt Damon starring as Odysseus.
“After years of war, no one could stand between my men and home. Not even me,” Damon’s Odysseus says in voiceover atop of scenes of Trojan War soldiers marching.
We then see Telemachus and Penelope, played by Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway, awaiting Odysseus’ arrival.
The star-studded ensemble cast of The Odyssey also includes Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron.
Universal describes the adaptation as “a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology,” which will bring the foundational, classic story to IMAX screens for the first time.
Homer’s The Odyssey, of course, tells the story of the Greek hero Odysseus’ 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. He is filled with interruptions in his quest to return home to his wife, Penelope, and his grown son, Telemachus, who fights off suitors who are desperate to steal his father’s throne.
Nolan wrote and directed the film, his first since the best picture Oscar-winning blockbuster Oppenheimer. He also produced the movie with his wife, Emma Thomas.
The Odyssey opens in movie theaters on July 17, 2026.
Reactions are pouring in after director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer were found dead Sunday in their Los Angeles home.
The family of the late TV great Norman Lear shared their reaction.
“The Lear Family is devastated by the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner,” the statement shared with ABC News began.
“Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world,” the family’s statement said. “Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place, and they pursued that through their art, their activism, their philanthropy, and their love for family and friends.”
“Lyn Lear had remained very close with them and said, ‘The world is unmistakably darker tonight, and we are left bereft,’” the Lear family statement added. Lyn Lear is Norman Lear’s widow.
Reiner starred as Michael “Meathead” Stivic in Lear’s hit sitcom All in the Family, which ran for nine seasons between 1971 and 1978.
In a statement to ABC News, Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband Christopher Guest, who starred in the Reiner directed rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, said that they’re “numb and sad and shocked about the violent, tragic deaths of our dear friends Rob and Michelle Singer Reiner.”
“Our ONLY focus and care right now is for their children and immediate families and we will offer all support possible to help them,” they added. “There will be plenty of time later to discuss the creative lives we shared a[nd] the great political and social impact they both had on the entertainment industry, early childhood development, the fight for gay marriage and their global care for a world in crisis. We have lost great friends. Please give us time to grieve.”
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama mourned Reiner and Singer’s death in a statement shared on X.
“Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele,” the Obamas said. “Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen.”
“But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people—and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action,” the Obamas continued. “Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who loved them.”
Fellow director and producer Ron Howard remembered Reiner as “a superlative filmmaker, a supporting colleague and at all times a dedicated citizen” in an X post.
“Our careers and lives intersected often over the decades from Rob writing the pilot script for Happy Days and then as we each shifted from acting careers into directing and producing,” Howard wrote.”He proved to be a superlative filmmaker, a supportive colleague and at all times a dedicated citizen. Rob will be missed on so many levels. My heart goes out to his family and his many close friends.”
Director Paul Feig also called Reiner his “true hero” in a post on X.
“One of my most cherished pictures,” Feig wrote next to a photo of the two of them at a San Diego Comic-Con event. “Rob was my true hero. A true visionary titan and a lovely lovely person. One never knows if it’s proper to post during something as tragic as this. But I just want the world to know what so many of us know in the industry. Rob was the best.”
John Cusack, who starred in Reiner’s 1985 film The Sure Thing, reacted to Reiner and Singer’s death in an X post, saying he was “shocked by the death of Rob Reiner -a great man.”
Actor Josh Gad called Reiner “one of the greatest directors of our time” in a tribute shared on Instagram.
“He was one of the greatest directors of our time. He was a friend. He was simply a beautiful person,” Gad wrote alongside a photo of Reiner.
“Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were two of the most kind and caring souls you could ever imagine. He cared so much for those who had no voices,” Gad continued. “This loss is devastating. I cannot express how much this hurts. Love you Rob and Michelle. Thank you for all you gave us.”
Reiner directed films Misery and Stand By Me based on material by Stephen King,who remembered the director on X.
“I’m horrified and saddened by the death of Rob Reiner and Michele,” he wrote. “Wonderful friend, political ally, and brilliant filmmaker (including 2 of mine). Rest in peace, Rob. You always stood by me.”
Carey Elwes, who starred in Reiner’s movie The Princess Bride, shared a photo on Instagram of two directors chairs with swords from the movie, captioning the post, “No words…”
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the deaths of Reiner and Singer.
Reiner and Singer’s family confirmed their deaths in a statement, writing, “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
The couple married in 1989 and had three children: Jake, Nick and Romy Reiner.
