Hollywood fired the opening salvo of awards season as the 2026 Golden Globe nominations dropped, led by Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” which stormed ahead with nine nods.
The political satire delivering a witty and incisive look at a society cracking under repression and political unrest dominated despite its shaky box-office run. The film earned just over $200 million but cost well above $130 million to produce and market, positioning it to lose tens of millions. Still, its awards momentum proved undeniable, securing nominations for best motion picture, musical or comedy, best director and best screenplay, with standout acting nods for Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn and Teyana Taylor.
Close contenders followed: Sentimental Value, a drama about a filmmaker’s dysfunctional family, earned eight nominations, while the Southern gothic vampire tale Sinners scored seven.
Because the Globes separate dramas from comedies, One Battle After Another competes for best motion picture in the comedy or musical category, a packed lineup including Blue Moon, Bugonia, Marty Supreme, No Other Choice and Nouvelle Vague. Meanwhile, Sentimental Value and Sinners will battle for best drama alongside Frankenstein, Hamnet, It Was Just an Accident and The Secret Agent.
Television delivered its own frontrunners. HBO’s The White Lotus, set this season in Thailand, led with six nominations, including acting nods for Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood and Jason Isaacs. Netflix’s experimental one-shot crime series Adolescence followed with five. Streaming platforms dominated overall: Netflix topped the race with 35 nominations, followed closely by Warner Bros. and HBO with 31 combined.
Globes president Helen Hoehne leaned into the show’s signature irreverence, calling it “Hollywood’s party of the year.” But this year’s celebration lands amid an industry grappling with layoffs, rising production costs, and an exhausted streaming market.
The awards also welcome two new categories. Stand-up comedy makes its debut with a stacked lineup, Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, Sarah Silverman, Kumail Nanjiani, Kevin Hart and Brett Goldstein. The Globes are also recognizing podcasts for the first time, with nominees including Armchair Expert, Call Her Daddy, Smartless and NPR’s Up First.
The 2026 Golden Globe Awards air 11 January on CBS, with comedian Nikki Glaser returning as host.