AWARDS SEASON | ENTERTAINMENT
With Oscar night just two weeks away—the 98th Academy Awards ceremony lands on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood—the Guild Awards delivered their verdicts this weekend, and the picture is almost entirely clear. Almost.
It was billed as the weekend that would settle the race: the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday and the Actor Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards) on Sunday. Both are among the most reliable Oscar predictors in the business, and both delivered results that will keep the conversation going right up until the envelope is opened.
Courtesy of The Producers Guild of America
Saturday: The PGAs Crown Their Champion
The PGA Award is one of the gold-standard Oscar predictors, having matched the Academy’s Best Picture winner 13 of the last 16 years. That’s no coincidence—both the PGAs and the Oscars use ranked-choice voting, a system that rewards broad consensus over passion picks. Films that everyone can live with tend to beat films that half the room loves and the other half doesn’t.
This year’s top prize went to One Battle After Another, and at this point the scoreboard speaks for itself: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, DGA, BAFTA, and now PGA. If this were a boxing match, they’d have stopped it by now.
‘Adolescence’Courtesy of Ben Blackall/Netflix
Elsewhere at the PGAs: Adolescence won Limited Series—and in a detail that perfectly captures the show’s cultural moment, its behind-the-scenes making-of special also took Best Short Form. Even its bonus content is collecting hardware. The Pitt won Drama Series, The Studio took Comedy, KPop Demon Hunters claimed Animated Feature, and Stephen Colbert won for Late Night.
👉 See the complete list of PGA winners here.
Sunday: The Actor Awards Shake Things Up
Then came Sunday night at the Shrine Auditorium—and Sinners had other plans.
Hosted by Kristen Bell and streamed live on Netflix, the Actor Awards have historically been dominated by the acting branch of the Academy, which is the largest single voting bloc in the entire membership. When actors like a film, it matters. And on Sunday night, they made their feelings clear.
Sinners won the evening’s top prize—Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture — breaking OBAA’s winning streak in dramatic fashion. Michael B. Jordan also took home Best Actor for his dual role in the film, besting Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio in the process. That’s a result that will get attention.
Other highlights from the night:
- Sean Penn won Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another; Amy Madigan continued her sweep of the Supporting Actress category for Weapons.
- Jessie Buckley added another Best Actress win to her season total for Hamnet. At this point, the Oscar is hers to lose.
- The late Catherine O’Hara won Best Actress in a Comedy Series for The Studio, with co-star Seth Rogen accepting the award and delivering a tribute that stopped the room. The Studio swept comedy with three wins total.
- The Pitt and Adolescence did what they’ve been doing all season in Drama and Limited Series, respectively.
- Harrison Ford received the Life Achievement Award.
👉 Full list of 2026 PGA Awards winners here.
Leonardo DiCaprione in Battle After Another. Courtey of Warner Bros. Pictures
What It Means for Oscar Night
Here’s where things stand heading into the final stretch: One Battle After Another has now run the table on every major precursor of the season. Historically, when a film sweeps like this, it wins Best Picture. The pattern is nearly unbroken.
But Sinners just picked up the Ensemble win and a Best Actor trophy from the actors — the people who will cast the most Academy ballots. That’s not nothing. That’s actually a lot. The question isn’t whether OBAA is the frontrunner anymore. It clearly is. The question is whether Sinners has built enough late momentum for an upset — and whether the Academy’s actors branch votes with their hearts or their heads on March 15.
Oscar voting is open now and closes Thursday, meaning ballots are being filled out as you read this. The WGA Awards ceremony was cancelled due to a staff union strike, so this past weekend was effectively the final competitive stop before Hollywood’s biggest night. The race is set. All that’s left is the ceremony.
Oscar Night | March 15, 2026 | Dolby Theatre, Hollywood
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