Oscar nominations: A look at the surprises for the 2026 nominees

The 2026 Oscars race heated up Thursday as nominations were announced.

Across all 24 categories, the academy confirmed several expected front-runners, while rattling expectations by excluding others.

FULL LIST: Nominations for the 2026 Oscars

With a deep field of acclaimed films this year, ABC News' Chris Connelly and Kelley Carter broke down the biggest surprises of the 2026 Oscar nominations.

Perhaps the biggest surprise from the nomination ceremony was the scale of success for Ryan Coogler's "Sinners," a project that was expected to perform well on Thursday morning. The film, which stars Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo and more, pulled in a whopping 16 total nominations on Thursday morning.

"I think it surprised us that it got even more than we thought it was going to," Carter said.

Connelly called the slate of nominations "a dominating performance," noting Coogler's nominations as writer, director and producer.

RELATED: 'Sinners' makes history, setting Oscars nomination record

"What a vindication for every risk he took to make this movie," Connelly said. "It triumphed on every level, box office and now with Oscar nominations. An amazing morning for that movie and for Ryan Coogler, who deserves it."

While Chloé Zhao's "Hamnet" also took in its fair share of nominations, including best picture and best actress, one notable name from the film was left off the nominations list.

"For me, 'Hamnet' -- I was really happy to hear all the nominations that it got, even though you missed out on the Paul Mescal nomination," Carter said. "I think that he probably should have been in there. But I feel like Jesse Buckley really drove this story, and rightly so, hearing her name called."

Connelly also reacted to Joachim Trier's success with the drama "Sentimental Value."

"I was really impressed with the number of acting nominations that 'Sentimental Value' got," Connelly said. "It's a beautifully done movie ... it was overlooked by a previous award show, but it's no doubt that for an international body like the voters for the Oscars, a lot of people loved it. I see Stellan Skarsgrd as a likely winner in [the best supporting actor] category."

Notable names left off the list of Oscar nominations this year included Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for their roles in "Wicked: For Good" and Adam Sandler for his role in "Jay Kelly" opposite George Clooney, who was also left off the nominations list.

Actors Jacob Elordi, Delroy Lindo and the film "F1" all scored notable nominations, as well as songwriter Diane Warren, who earned her 17th nod for best original song.

This year's Oscars ceremony will be hosted by Conan O'Brien for the second year in a row.

The 98th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be televised live on ABC and Hulu.