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THE 98th Academy Awards are underway in Los Angeles, with the film industry gathering at the Dolby Theatre for Hollywood’s most prestigious annual ceremony.
Comedian and television host Conan O'Brien returned to present the awards for a second consecutive year, presiding over a ceremony that began with a tightly contested race among several major nominees.
Heading into the night, One Battle After Another had widely been viewed as the likely dominant winner of the evening. However, a series of late-season awards for Sinners has turned the contest into a far closer competition.
Early results suggest the night may indeed be shared between the two films.
Actor Sean Penn secured the award for best supporting actor for his role in “One Battle After Another”, while Amy Madigan won best supporting actress for her performance in Weapons.
The first victory for “Sinners” came when director Ryan Coogler received the award for best original screenplay. Beginning his remarks, Coogler asked the audience to hold their applause so he would not be cut off by the orchestra.
“To my babies that are at home watching, I apologize for all the time away,” he said. “I love y’all more than anything.”
Meanwhile, Paul Thomas Anderson took the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for “One Battle After Another”.
Other early winners included the animated feature Kpop Demon Hunters and the animated short The Girl Who Cried Pearls.
In technical categories, Kate Hawley won best costume design for Frankenstein, which also earned the award for best makeup and hairstyling for Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey.
The best casting award went to Cassandra Kulukundis for “One Battle After Another”.
One of the ceremony’s most unusual moments came in the live-action short film category, where the Academy declared a tie between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva.
The tie also created an unexpected situation in online prediction markets. On the platform Polymarket, the result was settled alphabetically because the site’s rules state: “In case of a tie for the winner, this market will resolve in favor of the nominated film whose listed name comes first in alphabetical order.”
The ceremony also featured an emotional moment during the in memoriam tribute, opened by former Oscar host Billy Crystal, who honoured filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, who were killed in December.
Despite winning one of the evening’s early awards, Sean Penn was notably absent from the ceremony. The actor had largely avoided campaigning during the awards season and also missed earlier events including the BAFTA Awards.
Penn has a history of skipping awards ceremonies, including previous Academy Award nominations in 1996, 2002 and 2003. He attended in 2004 to accept the best actor award for Mystic River and again in 2009 when he won for Milk.
The 65-year-old actor has often appeared indifferent to awards recognition, having previously given one of his Oscars to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The ceremony continues with the industry awaiting the night’s biggest prizes, including best picture and best director. - March 16, 2026
