The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its shortlists in 12 categories, including best song, original score, international feature, documentary feature, cinematography, and the newly introduced casting award.
Topping the charts are Sinners and Wicked: For Good, each earning eight shortlist mentions.
Both films were recognised in key craft categories such as makeup and hair, sound, visual effects, score, casting, and cinematography, and each advanced two original songs.
Wicked: For Good saw Stephen Schwartz’s “The Girl in the Bubble” and “No Place Like Home” move forward, while Sinners features Ludwig Göransson, Miles Caton, and Alice Smith’s “Last Time (I Seen the Sun)” alongside Göransson and Raphael Saadiq’s “I Lied to You.”
Also making waves in the song category is Golden from KPop Demon Hunters, written by EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick.
Other shortlisted tracks feature high-profile artists including Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Nick Cave, and Bryce Dessner, while veteran songwriter Diane Warren could earn her 17th Oscar nomination with Dear Me from Diane Warren: Relentless.
The best international feature shortlist includes 15 films from across the globe, among them Norway’s Sentimental Value, Spain’s Sirât, South Korea’s No Other Choice, Brazil’s The Secret Agent, and Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab.
The Academy’s new casting award features 10 films competing for five nomination slots, including Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Sinners, Sirât, and Wicked: For Good.
Notably absent were Jay Kelly and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
The shortlist process, determined by each Academy branch with differing rules, has also allowed unexpected titles to surface in craft categories, such as The Alto Knights for makeup and hair, and Tron: Ares and The Electric State for visual effects.
Tron: Ares also appears on the score and song shortlists with Nine Inch Nails’ “As Alive As You Need Me To Be.”
The Academy will narrow the lists to five nominees per category for the final announcement on January 22. The 98th Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will air live on ABC on March 15 at 7 p.m. ET.