The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with comedian Conan O'Brien returning for his second consecutive year as host. This year's ceremony introduces the Best Casting category, marking the first new competitive addition in decades and bringing the total to 24 awards. High-profile contenders include Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' and Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' in a night that remains the film industry's most prestigious event despite ongoing economic unease.
New Category Debut
The 2026 Oscars will feature the first-ever competitive award for Best Casting, increasing the total number of categories to 24.
Hosting and Production
Conan O'Brien returns as host following a successful 2025 broadcast, supported by executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan.
Top Contenders
Filmmakers Ryan Coogler and Paul Thomas Anderson are expected to face off in major categories including Directing and Screenplay.
The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with Conan O'Brien returning as host for the second consecutive year. The ceremony will air live on ABC and stream on Hulu starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. The top prize, Best Picture, remains contested, with no clear frontrunner dominating the field heading into the evening. According to Reuters, a sense of unease hangs over Hollywood as the industry gathers for its most prominent annual event. Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan return as executive producers for the third consecutive year, with Hamish Hamilton directing the telecast.
The directing and screenplay categories are set to feature a closely watched contest between Ryan Coogler, whose film "Sinners" is a major contender, and Paul Thomas Anderson, whose film "One Battle After Another" competes in the same fields, according to ANSA. Both filmmakers are considered strong candidates across multiple categories. The Guardian's predictions reflect genuine uncertainty about which film will prevail in the top categories. Le Parisien highlights additional storylines heading into the night, including the prospects of Timothée Chalamet and French-connected productions. Al Jazeera notes that the field of nominees this year spans a broad range of films and performances, adding to the unpredictability of the evening's outcomes.
The Academy Awards have been presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since the late 1920s, making the ceremony one of the longest-running annual entertainment awards events in the world. The 97th Oscars, held on March 2, 2025, and also hosted by Conan O'Brien, drew 19.69 million total viewers, a five-year high, according to web search results from oscars.org. The ceremony has been held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood since 2002. O'Brien's return as host follows a well-received debut that reversed a years-long trend of declining viewership for the broadcast.
This year's ceremony will also mark the debut of a new competitive category: Best Casting, which the Academy is introducing for the first time in its history. The addition brings the total number of competitive categories presented during the ceremony to 24, according to the person registry. The red carpet proceedings in Los Angeles drew significant attention earlier in the day, with La Vanguardia providing live coverage of arrivals. The Open outlet noted that audience interest in the broadcast remains high given the competitive nature of this year's nominations. With no single film commanding a dominant position across the major categories, the outcome of the evening's awards is expected to remain uncertain until the final envelopes are opened.