Everything to Know About the 2026 Oscars, From How to Watch the Awards Show to the Nominations

After a long season of surprises, snubs, and red-carpet glamour, the 98th annual Academy Awards are just a few days away. This year's ceremony will cap off one of the most unpredictable awards seasons in recent years; most of the best drama movies of 2025 have picked up honors over the past three months, and there's no clear frontrunner in most of the acting races and Best Picture.

This year's nominees include a mix of record-breaking blockbusters (Sinners, KPop Demon Hunters, Marty Supreme), beloved auteur-led films (One Battle After Another, Hamnet), and strong international contenders (Sentimental Value, The Secret Agent, It Was Just an Accident). Plus, first-time nominees like Jacob Elordi, Michael B. Jordan, Renate Reinsve, Rose Byrne, Teyana Taylor, Wagner Moura, and Wunmi Mosaku hope to stamp their place in Hollywood history.

Read on to learn everything to know about the 2026 Oscars, including how to watch the ceremony and the nominated films.

When are the 2026 Oscars?

The 2026 Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. (Note: This is an hour earlier than the usual 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT start time for awards shows like the Golden Globes or the Grammys.)

As always, the ceremony will be held at L.A.'s Dolby Theatre.

How can I watch the 2026 Oscars?

Viewers with cable can tune into their local ABC channel or use their cable login to watch on a computer, phone, or tablet via ABC's app or website.

The Oscars will stream live on Hulu for all subscribers, regardless of subscription tier. (Ideally the streamer has created fixes for last year's glitches.) The full ceremony will also be available to watch on demand the following day.

If you don't have cable or a Hulu subscription, there are other ways to stream the Oscars online. Live streaming TV services like DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, Sling TV, and YouTube TV provide access to ABC (and offer free trials).

How can I watch the 2026 Oscars red carpet?

ABC's official pre-show, On the Red Carpet at the Oscars, starts at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT on March 15. E! Live from the Red Carpet is also expected to start soon after at 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT.

Who is hosting the 2026 Oscars?

Emmy winner Conan O'Brien will host the Oscars ceremony for the second year in a row. The comedy legend signed up to return to the awards show just two weeks after his well-received hosting debut in 2025.

Who is presenting at the 2026 Oscars?

The Academy of Motion Pictures announced that the ceremony's presenters will include: Anne Hathaway, Bill Pullman, as well as his son Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum, Chase Infiniti, Chris Evans, Delroy Lindo, Demi Moore, Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Javier Bardem, Jimmy Kimmel, Kumail Nanjiani, Maya Rudolph, Nicole Kidman, Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Robert Downey Jr., Rose Byrne, Sigourney Weaver, Wagner Moura, and Will Arnett. Last year's acting winners, Adrien Brody, Kieran Culkin, Mikey Madison, and Zoe Saldaña, will also return as presenters.

Meanwhile, Matt Berry will serve as the ceremony's announcer.

Who is performing at the 2026 Oscars?

After last year's controversial decision to skip the Best Original Song performances, the Oscars are bringing them back...but just the two biggest hits.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that this year's ceremony will include live performances of “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters and “I Lied to You” from Sinners. Oscar producers explained their decision, citing how the two songs "have played a defining role in their global cultural impact and audience connection this year."

They should be pretty big numbers. It's been confirmed that the singing voices behind HUNTR/X—EJAE, Rei Ami, and Audrey Nuna—will take the stage to sing "Golden." Meanwhile, "I Lied to You" will be performed by Sinners star Miles Caton and RB icon Raphael Saadiq. They'll also be joined on the stage by an exciting roster of musicians and performers, including Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy (who had a cameo in Sinners), Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey, and Alice Smith.

Elsewhere during the awards show, Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale will also perform.

According to THR, the other three tracks up for Best Original Song—"Train Dreams" by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner (Train Dreams), "Sweet Dreams of Joy" by Nicholas Pike (Viva Verdi!) and "Dear Me" by perennial nominee Diane Warren (Diane Warren: Relentless)—will be "introduced via custom-produced segments featuring film and behind-the-scenes footage."

Who is nominated at the 2026 Oscars?

As for this year's race, Sinners leads this year's Academy Award nominees with 16 nods. The vampire musical-thriller claimed a new record for the most nominations for an individual movie in one year, surpassing All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land's 14 nods.

Following closely after Sinners is One Battle After Another, with 13 nominations; Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value with 9 nods each; and Hamnet with 8 nods. These five films are all nominated for Best Picture, along with Bugonia, F1, The Secret Agent, and Train Dreams.

Other notable nominations include Chloé Zhao's Best Director nod for Hamnet; Best Animated Picture and Best Original Song nods for KPop Demon Hunters; first-time acting nods for Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You), and Delroy Lindo (Sinners); second career nominations after decades-long gaps for Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue) and Amy Madigan (Weapons); and the four nods for non-English acting performances—The Secret Agent's Wagner Moura and Sentimental Value's Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Stellan Skarsgård. There's also a brand-new category this year: Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, and Sinners nabbed the first-ever nominations for Achievement in Casting.

How can I watch the movies nominated for the 2026 Oscars?

If you still need to catch some of these films before finishing your voting ballot this week, you can watch most of the Oscar-nominated movies from the comfort of your couch.

Most of the Best Picture nominees are already available to stream. Bugonia is on Peacock; F1 is on Apple TV; Frankenstein is on Netflix; Hamnet is on Peacock; One Battle After Another is on HBO Max; The Secret Agent is on Hulu; Sinners is on HBO Max; and Train Dreams is on Netflix. As for other top films, Blue Moon is on Netflix; KPop Demon Hunters is on Netflix; If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is on HBO Max; It Was Just An Accident is on Hulu; Song Sung Blue is on Peacock; and Weapons is on HBO Max.

Meanwhile, Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value, andThe Voice of Hind Rajab are all available to rent or own on demand. All of these are also playing in theaters nationwide, as well as Best Visual Effects frontrunner Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For those of us who have too many streaming subscriptions and are willing to wait until after the ceremony: Sentimental Value will be on Hulu starting March 26, and Marty Supreme is expected to arrive on HBO Max sometime in April or May.