The vampire film Sinners broke the record

Vampire horror film Sinners has broken the record for the most Oscar nominations a film has received, after being nominated for 16 of Hollywood’s most coveted honors.

The film beat the previous record of 14 nominations, and came out ahead of its closest rival this year, Leonardo DiCaprio’s thriller One Battle After Another, with 13 awards.

Sinners’ opponents include its star Michael B Jordan and his British co-stars Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo.

Other big names up for trophies include Timothée Chalamet, who is hoping for third time lucky after two previous nominations, and Irish actress Jessie Buckley, who is the frontrunner to win best actress for Hamnet.

However, there was no room for his co-star Paul Mescal, who starred opposite Buckley as William Shakespeare in Hamnet; while Evil: For Good and its stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are completely gone.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Hollywood on March 15.

The first films:

• Sinners – 16
• One War After Another – 13
• Marty Supremo – 9
• Frankenstein – 9
• Sentimental Value – 9
• Hamnet – 8

Sinners exceeded expectations and bucked the trend that usually means horror films underperform at award ceremonies.

Michael B. Jordan nominated for best actor for playing twin brothers who return to Mississippi in the 1930s to set up a juke joint, staffed by blood-sucking vampires.

Other Sinners cast members nominated include the British-Nigerian actress Wunmi Mosaku and co-star Delroy Lindowho grew up in London, and the couple brought Britain’s hopes for this year’s acting awards.

Ryan Coogler nominated for directing, writing and producing Sinners, with the film also shortlisted for the Oscars’ top prize, best picture.

BBC Radio 1 film critic Ali Plumb said: “The last time anything to do with a horror won best picture was The Silence of the Lambs in the early 1990s. That was a long time ago.”

He said it was great to see The Sinners getting “this extensive series of accolades and thumbs up from across the industry”.

It was “more than a panic”, he added. “Although obviously vampires are obviously involved, there’s more to it.”

BBC culture editor Katie Razzall said: “I think the perfect combination of revenge thriller and sexy, decadent, musical journey of race issues in America, good versus evil, the power of music – and redemption.

“Who knew that combining vampires, KKK racists, ex-gangster twins (both played by Michael B Jordan), Mississippi delta legend and blues history would pay off so much?”

The previous record total of 14 nominations was achieved by All About Eve in 1951, Titanic in 1998 and La La Land in 2018.

The total number of sinners this year has been increased by adding a new award, for the best casting, although the number of categories has changed over the years.

As Sinners addresses the specter of racism in the American South, One War After Another provides a take on the current turbulent political climate in the US.

Leonardo DiCaprio nominated for best actor for playing a revolutionary battling an authoritarian US regime, whose past comes back to haunt him.

The film also earned nominations for supporting cast members Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn and Teyana Tayloras well as the director Paul Thomas Anderson.

It’s the presumptive favorite to win best picture throughout the award season so far, and could even take The Sinners to the top trophy in March.

Topping the nominations doesn’t always turn out to be the night’s big winner. In the last 21 years, the movie with the most nominations has won best picture only six times.

Either way, the nominations are good news for Warner Bros, which made Sinners and One War After One, as it in the sales processprobably on Netflix.

DiCaprio and Jordan will face stiff competition from Timothée Chalametwho is hotly tipped to win his first Oscar for his role in the table tennis caper Marty Supreme.

At the age of 30, he became the youngest person to receive three acting nominations since Marlon Brando.

This year’s best actor category was completed by Ethan Hawkewho has his fifth Oscar nomination for Blue Moon, and Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).

At 37, Emma Stone became the youngest woman to accumulate seven Oscar nominations after being recognized for Bugonia.

She was nominated for best supporting actress Kate Hudson (Blue Song), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) and in Norway Renate Reinve (Sentimental Value) – but Buckley is considered the clear favorite in that race.

Moura and Reinve are among a record four acting nominations for non-English language performances – the others are from Sweden. Stellan Skarsgård and Norwegian actress Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaaswhich are both supporting categories for Sentimental Value.

Fan favorite KPop Demon Hunters also recognized with Oscar nominations. The animated Netflix hit was in pole position to win best animated feature and best song, for the mega-hit Golden.

There is no room, however, for a succession of Evil.

This time last year, the first film received 10 nominations, and the follow-up is widely expected to join the Golden race for best song (for The Girl in the Bubble) and be nominated for prizes such as best costume and make-up. But it failed.

Elsewhere in the music categories, Nick Cave nominated for best song for the title song from Train Dreams, and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood nominated for best original score for One Battle After Another.

Other British nominees include fellow composer Nicholas Pikewho for best original song for Viva Verdi!; while Northern Irish author Maggie O’Farrell nominated for a screenplay award for the adaptation of his novel Hamnet with the director Chloe Zhao.

Zhao became only the second woman to be nominated for multiple best director Oscars, after Jane Campion. Zhao won the award for Nomadland in 2021.

Meanwhile, the best documentary feature category includes Mr. Nothing Against Putina co-production with BBC Storyville.