Warner Bros shines in what could be its final year as an independent studio
LOS ANGELES:
Warner Bros may be up for sale, but the studio’s standout releases Sinners and One Battle After Another are shaping up as frontrunners in the upcoming Oscar nominations, set to be announced Thursday.
Both films are expected to earn a dozen—or more—nods across major categories, from Best Picture and Best Actor to the new Best Casting award. It is a rare moment for a single studio to dominate the awards conversation, particularly in what could be Warner Bros’ swansong year as an independent distributor.
The studio is currently at the center of a fierce bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix. Yet despite parent company Warner Bros Discovery’s struggles, the studio has enjoyed a banner year, bucking Hollywood’s reliance on sequels and championing original films from visionary directors.
Sinners, a blues-infused period horror set in the segregated US South, comes from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler. Michael B. Jordan stars as twin brothers battling vampires and racism in 1930s Mississippi, with the film expected to land nods for Best Actor, Screenplay, Score, and more. Variety awards analyst Clayton Davis predicts it could challenge the all-time record of 14 nominations held by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land.
Meanwhile, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has dominated the awards season so far. This darkly comic thriller follows a retired revolutionary searching for his teen daughter amid radical violence, immigration raids, and white supremacist threats. Leonardo DiCaprio is all but guaranteed his seventh Best Actor nomination.
Netflix also brings contenders to the table with Guillermo del Toro’s monster horror Frankenstein, the Western drama Train Dreams, and the animated musical KPop Demon Hunters, while Paramount’s awards shelf appears notably empty.
Other likely nominees include Hamnet, a literary drama imagining Shakespeare coping with the death of his son, with Jessie Buckley expected to vie for Best Actress. Emma Stone (Bugonia) and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) may also secure acting nods.
Non-English-language films could contend for Best Picture as the Academy’s overseas voter base grows. Alongside Sentimental Value, Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident (Persian) and Brazil’s The Secret Agent are in the running, though space may be limited. Wagner Moura stars in The Secret Agent and could compete with DiCaprio and Jordan in the Best Actor race.
Timothée Chalamet is widely regarded as the frontrunner for Best Actor for Marty Supreme, portraying a brash, ambitious ping-pong prodigy in 1950s New York—a performance already recognized with a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award.
This year, the Academy introduces a new award for Best Casting, recognizing the talent behind assembling ensembles before production begins. With no precedent, voters’ criteria remain uncertain, with questions over whether they will reward star power, ensemble cohesion, or fresh discoveries.
The nominations will be revealed Thursday at 5:30 a.m. PST (1330 GMT), with the 98th Academy Awards ceremony scheduled for March 15.
