The race for the Golden Globes is officially on. Nominations for the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced on Monday, December 8, setting the stage for Hollywood’s first major awards ceremony of 2026. The event will be broadcast live on Sunday, January 11, 2026, on CBS and will be available to stream on Paramount+.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, One Battle After Another, was the clear leader on the movie side, scoring an impressive nine nominations. This ties it with films like Barbie and Cabaret as the third-most nominated film in the award show’s history. On television, the satirical anthology series The White Lotus led all series with six nominations.
The awards show, often considered a fun and unpredictable kickoff to the awards season, will be hosted for the second year in a row by comedian Nikki Glaser.
Film Front-Runners and Major Contenders
The competition for film honors is split into two top categories: Drama, and Musical or Comedy. One Battle After Another, a political satire set in a repressive society, will compete for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Its nine nominations include nods for director Paul Thomas Anderson, lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, lead actress Chase Infiniti, and supporting actors Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn. Anderson also received a nomination for his screenplay, and composer Jonny Greenwood is nominated for the film’s score.
Not far behind are two major dramatic contenders. The Norwegian family drama Sentimental Value earned eight nominations, while the vampire thriller Sinners collected seven. Both films are nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama.
The comedy and musical categories are particularly strong this season, featuring a mix of critical favorites and crowd-pleasers. They include Bugonia from director Yorgos Lanthimos, the Broadway adaptation Marty Supreme, and the South Korean film No Other Choice.
Helen Hoehne, President of the Golden Globes, called the ceremony “Hollywood’s party of the year,” highlighting its more relaxed and celebratory atmosphere compared to other major awards shows.
Other notable film contenders include Hamnet, a historical drama about William Shakespeare’s family, which earned six nominations. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein also made a strong showing with five nominations.
Television Nominees: Returning Favorites and New Hits
The television categories showcase a blend of beloved returning series and acclaimed new limited events. Leading the pack is The White Lotus, whose third season set in a luxury Thai resort earned six nominations. The show is up for Best Television Series – Drama and received multiple acting nominations for its ensemble cast, including Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, and Jason Isaacs.
The limited series Adolescence, a crime drama told in a continuous shot, followed with five nominations. Popular series Only Murders in the Building and the sci-fi thriller Severance each received four nods.
Familiar faces continue to dominate the comedy categories. All three stars of Only Murders in the Building—Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short—are nominated again. Jeremy Allen White is nominated for the fourth straight year for his role in The Bear. He is also nominated in the film category for portraying Bruce Springsteen in Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, making him one of several double nominees this year.
New Categories and Notable Snubs
The 2026 Golden Globes introduced a new category: Best Podcast. The inaugural nominees include popular shows like Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Call Her Daddy, SmartLess, and NPR’s Up First.
Another unique category is Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, which honors popular and financially successful films. This year’s nominees range from major blockbusters like Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2 to streaming hits like KPop Demon Hunters. The category also includes the action film Sinners and the musical sequel Wicked: For Good.
Despite the many nominations, some high-profile projects were notably absent from major categories. The musical Wicked: For Good, a sequel to last year’s nominee, received several technical and acting nods but was not nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Other anticipated films, like After the Hunt, only managed a single nomination.
Looking Ahead to the Ceremony
The Golden Globes ceremony will take place on January 11, 2026. In the days leading up to the main event, CBS will broadcast Golden Eve, a special on January 8 honoring lifetime achievement award recipients Helen Mirren (Cecil B. DeMille Award) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Carol Burnett Award).
With a wide-open field in many categories, the night is sure to be full of surprises. As one industry prediction noted, the comedy and musical races are “far more competitive than their drama counterparts” this year, making the final outcomes especially difficult to predict.
Also Read: Golden Globes 2026 Nominations: The Biggest Snubs and Surprises Revealed
