Ryan Coogler made Academy Awards history Thursday as his film Sinners landed a record-breaking 16 nominations, the most ever earned by a single movie. The milestone surpasses the long-standing benchmark of 14 nominations held by Titanic, La La Land, and All About Eve. Coogler himself was recognized with nominations for directing, best picture, and original screenplay, while the film also scored nods for cinematography, costume design, editing, production design, sound, visual effects, and original music.
The achievement is notable not only for its scale but for the creative and financial risk behind it. Sinners was conceived as an original, R-rated period horror film—an increasingly rare bet at the studio level. Produced on an estimated $90–$100 million budget, the project faced early skepticism but instead defied expectations, grossing more than $360 million worldwide. Performances by Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo, and Wunmi Mosaku were also rewarded with acting nominations, underscoring how Coogler’s gamble paid off on every front.