Oscars 2026: Every Geeky Movie That Won

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, One Battle After Another, was the big winner at the 98th Academy Awards, taking home six Oscars. These included awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, a Best Supporting Actor win for Sean Penn, and prizes for Best Film Editing and Best Casting – a new category the Academy added for the first time since 2002. Jessie Buckley also stood out, winning Best Actress for Hamnet with a performance many considered exceptionally powerful. These results showed the Academy continuing to favor traditional, critically acclaimed dramas directed by well-known filmmakers.

Despite not competing for Best Picture, the 98th annual ceremony still recognized several popular genre films. Horror films, in particular, received a record number of nominations, led by Sinners. That film wasn’t the only one; Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Zach Cregger’s Weapons also earned multiple nominations. Plus, thanks to Netflix releasing films in theaters, the year’s biggest blockbuster, KPop Demon Hunters, was eligible for awards this year.

5) Avatar: Fire and Ash

James Cameron’s latest Avatar film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the recent ceremony. Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett accepted the award. This win is significant because all three Avatar movies have now won the Oscar in this category, making it the only film series to achieve such a complete sweep. Avatar: Fire and Ash is also just the second film ever to win Best Visual Effects while competing against multiple Best Picture nominees. Beyond the awards, the film’s box office success – exceeding $1.47 billion worldwide – solidifies the Avatar franchise’s position as a financial powerhouse, with total earnings now surpassing $6 billion.

4) Frankenstein

Guillermo del Toro considers Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein a deeply influential work, and his long-awaited Netflix adaptation clearly showed his passion for the story. The film, starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature, received nine Academy Award nominations for its technical achievements, winning three. Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau won the Oscar for Production Design, marking their first win after being nominated for Nightmare Alley. Costume designer Kate Hawley also won her first Oscar on her first nomination, and Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey took home the award for Makeup and Hairstyling, also a first for each of them. The lavishly designed $120 million production, praised for its gothic atmosphere and Elordi’s performance, brought del Toro’s total Oscar wins to eleven.

3) Weapons

Zach Cregger’s film, Weapons, surprisingly won an award despite only receiving one nomination. Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her chilling portrayal of Aunt Gladys, a terrifying witch who haunts a small town, and her performance quickly became one of the most talked-about horror performances of the year. Weapons proved to be a major financial success, becoming one of 2025’s most profitable horror films, and Cregger has hinted at a prequel focusing on Aunt Gladys. The film’s impact was clear from the start of the awards ceremony, as host Conan O’Brien opened with a parody of Madigan’s character, highlighting just how much of a pop culture phenomenon Weapons had become.

2) KPop Demon Hunters

In 2025, the animated series KPop Demon Hunters, a Netflix production from Sony Pictures Animation, quickly became a cultural phenomenon—even before the Oscars. It broke records on the platform, becoming Netflix’s most-watched original title with over 500 million views, and its soundtrack topped the Billboard charts. At the Oscars, the show won both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Golden”). This historic win made co-director Maggie Kang and producer Michelle Wong the first people of South Korean descent to win in the Animated Feature category, and Kang’s emotional dedication to Korea received a standing ovation. The Best Original Song win completed a remarkable awards season, adding to victories at the Grammys and Golden Globes.

1) Sinners

Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners made history at the Academy Awards, receiving a record-breaking 16 nominations – exceeding the previous high of 14 held by several other films. It went on to win four awards: Michael B. Jordan was named Best Actor for playing twins in the 1930s vampire film, Coogler won Best Original Screenplay (becoming only the second Black writer to do so, following Jordan Peele), Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to win Best Cinematography, and Ludwig Göransson took home the award for Best Original Score. Despite losing Best Picture and Best Director to One Battle After Another, preventing a horror film from winning the top prize for the first time since The Silence of the Lambs in 1992, Sinners’ four wins from 16 nominations is the biggest achievement for a genre film at the Academy Awards.

What movie did you enjoy the most in 2026? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-03-16 14:10