Road to the Oscars: Key award dates including nominee announcements, & who are the Oscar frontrunners so far?

• The Road to the 2026 Oscars is nearing, as the first set of nominees is set to be announced for one huge ceremony in December.
• Chatter is already underway on who could be early frontrunners for a nod, but that may all change once several other ceremonies take place.
• Here are some of the key dates of nomination announcements and ceremonies as we start to build up to the Oscars season 2026.

We are at that magical point of the film calendar when people start to make their selections on who could be the big winners on the Road to the Oscars, where debates and frank conversations about who deserves and maybe who doesn’t deserve a nomination take place.

But before that fateful night next year, when the cream of the cinematic crop finally get their plaudits (or sometimes, controversially get overlooked), we do have several ceremonies that are considered to ultimately “shape” how the evening next March might pan out. The “big three” includes the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, each providing a strong indicator of who might come out on top at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

We will once again be rolling out our league table once the first set of nominations on the Road to the Oscars begins, which looks currently to be the Golden Globes - but when are the nominations set to be announced for some of the bigger ceremonies leading up to the Academy Awards, and who are the early frontrunners according to industry experts?

The Road to the Oscars - what dates are the key ceremonies leading up to 2026’s event?

All information provided is correct as of writing:

The Golden Globes

• Nominees announced: December 8
• Ceremony date: January 11

The BAFTA Film Awards

• Nominees announced: January 27
• Ceremony date: February 22

Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG)

• Nominees announced: January 7
• Ceremony date: March 1

The Oscars

• Nominees announced: January 22
• Ceremony date: March 15

Who are some of the early favourites ahead of the 2026 Oscars?

Although there is still some time until the Oscars take place, Gold Derby has already started their early predictions on who could pick up nominations heading into the ceremony. According to their website, combining the views of experts, editors and users of the site, they think the following performers and features are in the running for that much vaunted Oscar nod:

Best Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another
• Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme
• Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent

Best Actress

• Jessie Buckley - Hamnet
• Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
• Cynthia Erivo - Wicked: For Good

Best Picture

• Hamnet
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners

Best Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another
• Chloe Zhao - Hamnet
• Ryan Coogler - Sinners

Best Supporting Actor

• Sean Penn - One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value
• Paul Mescal - Hamnet

Best Supporting Actress

• Ariana Grande - Wicked: For Good
• Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another
• Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay

• One Battle After Another
• Hamnet
• Bugonia

Best Original Screenplay

• Sinners
• Sentimental Value
• Marty Supreme

Best Animated Feature

• KPop Demon Hunters
• Zootopia 2
• Arco

Who do you think should get an early nod as an Oscar contender based on your film viewing over the last 12 months? Let us know by commenting on the Facebook post you might have seen this story on, or by dropping an email to the writer of this piece.