The Oscars are on the way, and while not every movie of 2025 made the 98th Academy Awards' list of nominees, quite a few did. After looking at the latest list, seeing Wicked: For Good snubbed, and all other takeaways one might have over this latest list, I'm still stuck asking why we have so many Best Picture nominees.
It's been a decade and a half plus since The Oscars upped the number from five to 10 nominees, but in 2026, I'm sitting here wishing that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would roll it back. While the initial move was made after seeing quality movies snubbed, I think this year's nominees have me convinced that 10 is too many.
The 2026 Academy Awards Has 10 Nominees For Best Picture
There are plenty of great movies that came out in 2025, many of which made the list for Best Picture nominees. For those who haven't seen the list so far, peep the nominees below:
- Bugonia
- F1
- Frankenstein
- Sinners
- Marty Supreme
- Hamnet
- One Battle After Another
- The Secret Agent
- Train Dreams
- Sentimental Value
The Academy cast a wide net this year, with many different genres, period pieces and even a couple available with a Netflix subscription on the list. In a time where 10 nominees is the norm, this list is fine. In a time where there was a hard cut-off of five movies, however, I wouldn't shed a tear at half of these movies missing the cut.
10 Nominees Is Excessive, And It Still Doesn't Fix The Problem
As shared by Variety, the Academy upped the number of Best Picture nominees to address big-budget blockbusters like The Dark Knight. These movies were well-loved and critically acclaimed, and yet always missed the cut while more niche and lower-budget movies made the cut.
In 2026, Superman had impressive audience and critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes, yet wasn't given a Best Picture nomination. It's the same story for other great movies this year, like Wake Up Dead Man, Avatar: Fire and Ash, 28 Years Later, Weapons and Jay Kelly. I enjoyed many of the movies chosen for Best Picture, but I'd argue I enjoyed some of the ones I just mentioned and will remember them a good deal more.
To me, it feels the Best Pictures category hasn't changed for the better, and if anything, has given more opportunities for movies that are obvious "Oscars bait" to get a consolation prize if nothing else. Train Dreams, for example, may not have drawn as many eyes as Superman upon its release, but the prestige of being nominated for Best Picture will undoubtedly pull people to Netflix to check it out. If the category was expanded only for voters to award more niche offerings as opposed to acclaimed favorites, then it feels more like a glorified marketing tactic to get certain movies more attention.
Snubs happen with awards shows, but in a category that allows 10 entrants, I would expect at least seven of those movies to be ones that had an impact on pop culture, were incredibly popular with audiences, or stood out for cinematic moments we'll talk about years from now. I look at the 2026 Best Picture list, and I don't see that. As someone who saw over 100 movies that were released last year, I feel more disconnected from the Academy voters than ever. It's a superfluous list to me at this point, and I think it needs to be culled back down to five to mean something again.
The Oscars will air live on ABC March 15th, and Conan O'Brien will once again host the ceremony. CinemaBlend did a rundown of our staff's favorite movies of 2025, so feel free to check out some of what we felt would have been worthy of a Best Picture nomination.
