3 min readNew DelhiFeb 11, 2026 10:45 AM IST
Arguably the biggest award show of the calendar year is a month away. The Academy Awards are going to be held on March 15, and the night will crown the best of the best from the past year. As part of tradition, the Oscar Luncheon was recently held at the Beverly Hilton. Last year the event had to be cancelled and then moved to a different location because of the California wildfires. As the luncheon returned to its traditional home, fresh faces and veterans rubbed shoulders during the star-studded affair.
Except for a few names like Sean Penn and Renate Reinsve, almost all nominees were present at the luncheon. One’s gaze could at any time fall on Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Steven Spielberg (Hamnet), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), or Emma Watson (Bugonia). Warner Bros, who are currently amid an industry-changing deal with Netflix, led the nominations, with their films One Battle After Another and Sinners, both with 13 and 16 nominations, respectively.
Even though it’s easy to get enamoured by the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson and Spielberg, there was an audible decibel change in the room when Ryan Coogler’s (Sinners) name was announced. He has been nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. If he wins the former, that would make him the first Black filmmaker in the 97-year history of the Oscars to ever win Best Director. While things seldom go according to plan in Hollywood, Variety reported that the reaction of his fellow nominees and the rest of the room seemed to already crown him.
Ryan’s partner in crime, Michael B. Jordan, has also been nominated for Best Actor, along with Leonardo (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Chalamet (Marty Supreme), and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent). Chalamet is already facing some resistance due to the current controversies regarding the Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie, so Jordan could be looking at a slightly easier path to glory.
Other notable attendees included Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value), Benicio Del Toro (One Battle After Another), Diane Warren (Relentless), and Chloe Zhao (Hamnet).
