Everything you need to know about 2026 awards season
From key dates to the hotly-tipped films, and major nominations to early predictions, here’s everything you need to know about the 2026 awards season
The 2026 awards season is just around the corner – and we’re so ready for it. Not only does the entirety of the international film and TV industry don their most glamorous gladrags for a parade of star-studded events, starting with the Critics Choice awards just days into the new year and culminating with the glitziest of gongs at the Oscars, but it offers up an array of career-defining moments and hands out thousands of life-changing awards. Collectively, it spotlights not only those on the red carpet, but also the unsung costume designers, directors, composers and technical artists who helped make this year’s best films and TV shows.
But, while we’re sure the Golden Globes and BAFTAs would prefer to think otherwise, the reason every awards ceremony is watched so closely is because they ultimately lead to predictions for the Oscars – Hollywood’s highest accolade. This time of year is always rife with conjecture around who will win, but as history has proven time and time again, until the ceremony arrives there’s everything to play for. With the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes nominations already released, the awards season rumour mill is in overdrive, with Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet and Bugonia set to make waves in 2026. Discover everything you need to know, from key dates to predictions, below.
Critics Choice Awards
Ariana Grande at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards. Image: Shutterstock/Kathy Hutchins
Nicole Kidman at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards. Image: Shutterstock/Featureflash Photo Agency
Date: 4 January 2026
Kicking off Hollywood’s awards season in early January is the Critics Choice Awards, honouring the world’s ‘finest in cinematic achievements’ since 1996. Written ballots are submitted during a week-long nominating period, and the resulting nominees were announced at the beginning of December. A Hollywood heavyweight, Critics Choice is an integral part of awards season because it acts as a ‘first look’ for industry insiders and spectators as to how the succeeding awards might play out. It has evolved into a key early indicator and momentum builder in the Oscar race, especially for unsung actors and smaller films, with wins and nominations generating online buzz and news coverage which could potentially lead to more nominations – and ultimately more gongs – later in March.
Returning to the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, for its 31st edition this year, the star-studded event will see 20 awards handed out for film alone, with many more for TV and documentary. There are four new categories for 2026 – Best Variety Series, Best Stunt Design, Best Casting and Ensemble, and Best Sound – but it’s the Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress that everyone wants to know.
Sinners – the American horror film set in 1932 Mississippi starring Michael B Jordan and directed by Ryan Coogler – leads with 17 nominations, just shy of Barbie’s record-breaking 18 nominations two years ago. It’s followed by One Battle After Another with 14 nominations, with leading man Leonardo DiCaprio tipped for Best Actor. On the TV front, Adolescence is in the running for Best Limited Series while its cast, including Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty and Christine Tremarco, are all up for gongs.
Golden Globe Awards
Zendaya at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards. Image: Shutterstock/Tinseltown
Colman Domingo at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards. Image: Valentino/Getty
Date: 11 January 2026
Swiftly following the Critics Choice Awards is the Golden Globes just a week later. As ever, the ceremony’s 83rd event will be hosted at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, inviting anyone who is anyone in the world of film and TV to watch industry heavyweights go head-to-head at the Pink Palace. American comedian and Emmy-nominated actress Nikki Glaser made history last year as the first woman to host the event solo and will return as MC again in 2026.
Films have been divided into four categories – Drama, Musical/Comedy, non-English language and Animated – and One Battle After Another is leading the pack with nine nods, including Best Picture. Frankenstein is also making some rumblings here, with Oscar Isaac up against Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine and Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams for Best Male Actor (Drama). Rumour has it that Timothée Chalamet will be taking home the Best Male Actor (Musical/Comedy) gong for his leading role in Marty Supreme but it remains all to play for.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Globes momentum, which saw his previous films Poor Things and The Favourite scoop awards, shows no signs of slowing with Bugonia up for Best Film (Musical/Comedy), and its leading actress Emma Stone back in the race for Best Actress in the corresponding category. Stone will be up against Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo – and since neither she nor co-female lead Ariana Grande won anything during last year’s awards season, everyone will be watching to see whether Wicked’s second act was worth it after all.
BAFTA Film Awards
Claire Foy at the 2024 BAFTAs. Image: Armani/Getty Images
Zoe Saldana at the 2025 BAFTAs. Image: Joe Maher/BAFTA/Getty Images
Date: 22 February 2026
Back on home turf, the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), has been honouring the best British and international film contributions since 1949 – and 2026 will be no exception. Taking place at the Royal Festival Hall, it’s always an exciting event for London, as national and international stars flock to the capital for the UK’s biggest film event and, this year, Scottish actor and lauded Cabaret star Alan Cumming will be taking over the hosting reins from David Tennant. Not only do the BAFTAs signify British film and TV’s highest accolade, and highlight the UK’s contribution to the media industry, but it also acts as another precursor in the Oscar race given the Academy’s large British voting bloc.
Nominations are set to be released on 27 January 2026 but that doesn’t mean the BAFTA rumour mill isn’t already in overdrive. One Battle After Another is neck-and-neck with Hamnet, which comes out in UK cinemas on 9 January 2026 and stars homegrown talent Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. If internet chatter is anything to go by, Buckley seems to be a favourite for Best Actress, while Timothée Chalamet’s recent UK media tour for Marty Supreme has paid off, hotly tipping him for Best Actor.
The Actors Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards)
Date: 1 March 2026
No, there isn’t a hot new awards ceremony playing for attention this year. US organisation, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), changed the name of its signature awards ceremony in November 2025 to give viewers “an immediate understanding of who we are and what we're about”, executive producer Jon Brockett told the BBC. As the new name suggests, this event has always been actor-focused, awarding individual performances and whole casts, but as it boasts the largest voting body of any major awards show (122,000 and counting), results often reflect popular and mainstream appeal.
Nominations won’t be released until 7 February 2026, but cinematic icon Harrison Ford has already been named as the recipient of the highly-anticipated Life Achievement Award – a long-time coming given he’s been in the industry for seven decades and is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. One of the biggest Oscar predictors is the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, with previous winners including Conclave, Oppenheimer, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Parasite, which all won big at the Academy a month later. Watch this space.
Academy Awards (Oscars)
Kieran Culkin at the 2025 Oscars. Image: Zegna/Getty Images
Selena Gomez at the 2025 Oscars. Image: Alamy
Date: 15 March 2026
Major categories – such as Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress – at the Oscars can be relatively easy to predict given the awards and events that prelude it, but it's the more niche and short film classes that can be the biggest shocks. Case in point, 2019 saw Parasite go down in history as one of the most surprising Oscar wins, stealing the Best Film gong from heavily-pegged winner, 1917, which had scooped the top award at both the BAFTAs and Golden Globes. Ultimately, when it comes to Hollywood’s hottest event, nothing is certain until the statuette is in your hand.
Nomination voting begins on 12 January 2026 (just a day after the Golden Globes) and concludes four days later, before the final list is revealed on 22 January. The 98th edition will see 24 categories be awarded, each with five nominees excluding Best Picture which has 10. Online polls suggest Best Picture nominations will be led by One Battle After Another, swiftly followed by Sinners, Norwegian drama Sentimental Value and Hamnet. That said, Wicked: For Good, Frankenstein and Marty Supreme are still firmly in the game. May the best film win.
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