The 98th Academy Awards will be held Sunday, with blockbuster hits released within 2025 like “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another,” “Hamnet” and many others receiving multiple nominations. With many of these projects nominated across the big three awards — Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role and Directing — the 2026 Oscars are sure to be contentious.

Who will sweep the categories this year? The Daily Trojan’s senior film reporters have placed their bets on who will take home this year’s Oscars.

Actor in a Leading Role: Michael B. Jordan, ‘Sinners’

The race for best actor at the Oscars is tighter than ever this year. Leonardo DiCaprio seeks to take home his second win in the category, while Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan, Timothée Chalamet and Wagner Moura fight for their first win in the category.

However, the race has shrunk to a two-party contest between Chalamet for his role as Marty Mauser in “Marty Supreme” and Jordan for his dual role as twins Smoke and Stack in “Sinners.”

Even though Chalamet’s meticulousness shone through to make “Marty Supreme” one of 2025’s most compelling watches, Jordan was the beast that sparked a bigger cultural moment — a two-headed beast at that. Jordan has long been Ryan Coogler’s go-to lead actor, but his captivating portrayal of two identical, but polar-opposite twins might be the “Creed” (2015) star’s most impressive performance yet.

— Kailen Hicks, Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer

Actress in a Leading Role: Jessie Buckley, ‘Hamnet’

Jessie Buckley’s performance as Agnes in “Hamnet” was not only phenomenal but a love letter to theater and acting as an art form. The Irish actress has already earned herself the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actress, and there’s a strong chance she’ll win the Academy over too.

Buckley’s performance truly captured the beauty and suffering of both womanhood and motherhood. Besides her excellent line delivery, the actress’ subtleties — thoughtful glances, acting with the eyes, physical choices — illustrated that Buckley is a genuine master of her craft. The heartbreaking scene of Agnes mourning the death of her son, screaming and clutching his body, is haunting and unforgettably so.

The film’s deeply emotional narrative would not have been executed half as beautifully or gut-wrenchingly without her presence.

— Sophia Kang, Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, ‘One Battle After Another’

This is Paul Thomas Anderson’s year. The critically acclaimed filmmaker has been nominated for an Academy Award 14 times — including four Best Director nods — but has yet to take home an Oscar statuette. “One Battle After Another” is his long-awaited time to shine.

Anderson’s direction completely transforms the sprawling 161-minute epic about political extremism and resistance into a fast-paced exploit. It’s not just a good movie; it’s fun to watch.

A hallmark of Anderson’s filmography is his dynamic cinematography, influenced by cinéma vérité. Through his character-driven lens, the bleak, post-revolutionary dystopia of “One Battle After Another” becomes something entirely new and terrifying.

— Fiona Feingold, Arts & Entertainment Columnist

Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, ‘Sinners’

Ryan Coogler’s screenplay for “Sinners” fits the most literal interpretation of “original screenplay.” Its canvas is wide, exploring and twisting ideas from horror films, musicals and period dramas.

The story also knocks a big swing out of the park in jamming its constrained 24-hour timeframe into a strange two-act structure. Coogler splits his movie’s runtime more or less evenly between the film’s methodical character study and vampire extravaganza.

If there’s anything that clinched the screenplay Oscar for “Sinners,” however, it would have to be its centerpiece “juke joint” scene. In the scene, centuries of musical history are dropped into a stunning musical sequence. Without the screenplay’s gripping, page-long description of this sequence, a defining cultural moment of 2025 would have never hit the screen.

— Sammy Bovitz, Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer

Best Picture: ‘One Battle After Another’

This year’s Academy Awards season has seen some of the most heated Best Picture debates in recent years — and for good reason. 2025 saw the release of a myriad of instant classics; films like “Hamnet,” “Sinners,” “Marty Supreme” and “Sentimental Value” would all be deserving of the Best Picture title any other year, yet this year, they’re all expected to go head-to-head. However, one film rises above the rest.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” is a relentless, mesmerizing masterpiece, and a timely, almost prescient marker in both popular culture and political conversation. The film showcases recalcitrant activist attitudes and their effects — for better and worse — through clever cinematography, witty writing, impeccable casting and stellar performances from the entire cast, especially Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro.

This semi-Orwellian prophecy foretells a future already upon us, and poses this position in an epic, nimble satire. Aside from celebrating the deserving film’s infinite cinematic victories, a “One Battle” win would be apposite given the current climate.

— Aubrie Cole, Arts & Entertainment Columnist

The Academy Awards will take place Sunday at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles at 4 p.m. PDT. It will also be broadcast live on ABC and Hulu.