The second installment of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s Wicked franchise got totally blanked by the Oscars.
The 2026 Oscar nominations were announced Thursday morning, and Jon M. Chu’s Wicked: For Good, the sequel to 2024’s Wicked, did not receive a single nomination.
To add insult to injury, the movie’s first part received a whopping 10 nominations at last year’s Oscars, including nods in heavyweight categories like Best Picture, Best Actress for Eviro, and Best Supporting Actress for Grande. Ultimately, Wicked nabbed two wins: Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Costume designer Paul Tazewell made history with the win, becoming the first Black man to take home the award.
Wicked: For Good also lost out at the Golden Globes this year. Though the musical received five nominations, it failed to win a single award.
The November 2025 release of Wicked: For Good propelled Chu’s Wicked franchise to a worldwide box office gross of nearly $1.3 billion. The second film broke records on its opening weekend, surpassing its predecessor’s box-office record and becoming the largest overseas opening for a stage musical adaptation.
The commercial success of the Wicked franchise has been noted by its studio, Universal. Universal’s chief marketing officer, Michael Moses, told Vulture in Nov. 2024, “Because of Wicked’s success but also the fanship, we have almost a responsibility to figure out how we can continue in this universe." Moses added that “there are things underway” to propel the universe.
While the Wicked sequel didn’t make the cut this year, another blockbuster hit dominated the nominations. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has become the first film to be nominated for 16 awards. The Michael B Jordan-starrer beat a record previously held by 1950’s All About Eve, 1997’s Titanic, and 2016’s La La Land.
Following Sinners, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another obtained 13 nominations. Marty Supreme, Frankenstein, and Sentimental Value trail behind with nine nominations each. Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet received eight nods across categories.
The 98th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 15. Comedian Conan O’Brien is returning to host the awards.
