BAFTA Awards 2026: ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Sinners’ Lead Longlists

This is the official longlist for the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards - Friday 9 January 2026

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners racks up 14 longlist entries. Photograph: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The final nominations are announced on 27 January, and the award winners will be announced on 22 February at a ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall hosted by actor Alan Cumming.

BEST FILM

10 films are advancing in the Best Film category out of 109 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• “The Ballad of Wallis Island”

• “Bugonia”

• “Frankenstein”

• “Hamnet”

• “I Swear”

• “Marty Supreme”

• “Nuremberg”

• “One Battle After Another”

• “Sentimental Value”

• “Sinners”

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ten films are advancing in the Cinematography category out of 159 films submitted for consideration.

• Ballad of a Small Player - Cinematographer: James Friend

• Bugonia - Cinematographer: Robbie Ryan

• Die My Love - Cinematographer: Seamus McGarvey

• F1 - Cinematographer: Claudio Miranda

• Frankenstein - Dan Laustsen

• Hamnet - Cinematographer: Lucasz Zal

• Marty Supreme - Cinematographer: Darius Khondji

• One Battle After Another - Cinematographer: Michael Bauman

• Sinners - Cinematographer: Autum Durald Arkapaw

• Train Dreams - Cinematographer: Adolpho Veloso

Members of the Cinematography chapter vote to determine the Cinematography longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film-voting members will vote for the overall winning film.

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

10 films are advancing in the Outstanding Debut category out of 43 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• The Ceremony

• The Man in My Basement

• Mother Vera

• My Father’s Shadow

• Pillion

• Ocean with David Attenborough

• The Shadow Scholars

• Urchin

• A Want In Her

• Wasteman

A jury determines the Outstanding Debut longlist, nominations and overall winner in this category.

CHILDREN’S & FAMILY FILM

Eight films are advancing in the Children’s & Family Film category out of 14 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• Arco

• Boong

• Elio

• Grow

• How to Train Your Dragon

• Lilo & Stitch

• Little Amelie

• Zootropolis 2

A jury determines the Children’s & Family Film longlist, nominations and overall winner.

FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

10 films are advancing in the Film not in the English Language category out of 40 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• It Was Just an Accident

• La Grazia

• Left-Handed Girl

• No Other Choice

• Nouvelle Vague

• Rental Family

• The Secret Agent

• Sentimental Value

• Sirāt

• The Voice of Hind Rajab

All BAFTA film-voting members were invited to join an opt-in chapter to determine the Film not in the English Language longlist. This chapter will vote to nominate five films. In the final round all film-voting members vote to determine the winning film.

DOCUMENTARY

10 films are advancing in the Documentary category out of 61 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• 2000 Meters To Andriivka

• Apocalypse In The Tropics

• Becoming Led Zeppelin

• Cover-Up

• The Librarians

• Mr Nobody Against Putin

• Ocean with David Attenborough

• One to One: John & Yoko

• The Perfect Neighbour

• Riefenstahl

Members of the Documentary chapter vote to determine the Documentary longlist. A jury selects the five nominations. In the final round all film-voting members vote to determine the winning film.

ANIMATED FILM

Six films are advancing in the Animated Film category out of 10 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• Arco

• The Bad Guys 2

• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

• Elio

• Little Amelie

• Zootropolis 2

All BAFTA film-voting members were invited to join an opt-in chapter to determine the Animated Film longlist and will vote to nominate three films. In the final round all film-voting members vote to determine the winning film.

DIRECTOR

Ten films are advancing in the Director category out of 182 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos)

• Die My Love (Lynne Ramsay)

• Hamnet (Chloé Zhao)

• A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)

• Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie)

• One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)

• Rental Family (Hikari)

• Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)

• Sinners (Ryan Coogler)

• The Voice of Hind Rajab (Kaouther Ben Hania)

Members of the Directing chapter vote for their top 10 to determine the Director longlist, of which the top women and men directors, and directors who identify as non-binary/gender diverse and any mixed-gender directing teams (within the voting results range of the top 10 women/men directors) will be longlisted to a max of 11, with gender parity upheld between women and men directors. The Directing chapter will vote for the six nominations. In the final round all film-voting members vote to determine the winning film.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Ten films are advancing in the Original Screenplay category out of 74 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• Blue Moon

• A House of Dynamite

• I Swear

• Is This Thing On?

• It Was Just an Accident

• Marty Supreme

• The Secret Agent

• Sentimental Value

• Sinners

• Weapons

Members of the Writers chapter vote to determine the Original Screenplay longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film-voting members will vote for the winning film.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Ten films are advancing in the Adapted Screenplay category out of 64 eligible films submitted for consideration.

• 28 Years Later

• The Ballad of Wallis Island

• Bugonia

• Frankenstein

• Hamnet

• Nuremberg

• One Battle After Another

• Pillion

• Train Dreams

• Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Members of the Writers chapter vote to determine the Adapted Screenplay longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film-voting members will vote for the winning film.

Jared Kushner is investor in Paramount’s hostile takeover of Warner

The private equity firm that’s headed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is part of the group that’s joining Paramount’s hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, regulatory filings revealed on Monday.

Kushner’s involvement in Paramount’s attempt to convince WBD shareholders to reject Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal, which was already approved by Warner’s board of directors, comes as Paramount chairman David Ellison insists that his offer has a better chance of clearing regulatory hurdles with the Trump administration.

David Ellison is saying that he would combine CNN with CBS News if he were successful in purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery. (AFP/Getty)

Meanwhile, just as Ellison – whom the president has called a “great person” and repeatedly praised since taking over Paramount in August – announced he was launching a hostile takeover of WBD, Trump publicly blasted Paramount for allowing 60 Minutes to air an interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The anti-Paramount screed is just the latest wrinkle in the increasingly bitter bidding war for Warner, which has also seen Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos make a secret pilgrimage to the White House last month in an effort to woo Trump over to his company’s side.

While the president is once again irate over a 60 Minutes segment and lashing out at Ellison on social media, the involvement of Kushner in the tender offer and the president’s chummy relationship with the Paramount chief and his father – Oracle founder and close Trump ally Larry Ellison – could help sway some WBD shareholders to press the board into accepting the Paramount bid, believing that Netflix could face more resistance from the White House.

However, even though Paramount is sweetening the pot and going public with its takeover attempt, it may not matter to Warner and the majority of its stockholders, who have concerns about Paramount’s other investors and were put off by Ellison’s unsolicited pursuit of WBD earlier this year.

Affinity, along with the sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, have “agreed to forgo any governance rights – including board representation – associated with their non-voting equity investments,” according to Monday’s filing. The Middle Eastern public investment funds were also part of Paramount’s original Warner bid last week.

One of the significant points of contention the Warner Bros. board had with Paramount’s offer was its reliance on the Saudi money to complete its financing.

“The company was relying on billions of dollars from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, which would invite a review from the US government’s security apparatus,” Bloomberg reported. “Even if it passed, that was an additional inconvenience. Though Paramount had denied a report that it was receiving money from those funds, they were participants in its bid.”

In the filing on Monday, Paramount declared that the Ellisons and investment firm RedBird Capital would “backstop” all of the equity needed for the transaction.

“Each outstanding share of WBD Series A common stock will be exchanged for $30.00 per share in cash, reflecting a total equity value of $77.9 billion. Including the assumption of net debt and noncontrolling interest, this reflects an implied enterprise value of $108.4 billion,” the filing stated. “The Ellison family and RedBird have collectively committed to backstop 100% of the $40.7 billion of equity capital required for the Transaction.”

Besides Paramount increasing its offer significantly and revealing that the president’s son-in-law is part of the takeover bid, Ellison has also seemed to appeal to the president’s desire to see CNN – which is currently owned by WBD – come under the umbrella of CBS News and its “anti-woke” new editor in chief Bari Weiss.

As the deal currently stands, Warner Bros. Discovery will proceed with spinning off its linear TV properties from the rest of the company, while Netflix will acquire the film and television studios, along with HBO and streamer HBO Max. Discovery Global, which will become a separate company in late 2026 and includes CNN, TBS and TNT Sports, will not be part of the merged Netflix-Warner. Instead, Netflix is offering WBD shareholders $27.75 a share, of which $23 will be paid in cash and the rest in stock of the spun-off television company. Ellison, meanwhile, is seeking to buy WBD in its entirety – which will include CNN and the rest of the cable assets.

“We want to build a scaled news service that is basically fundamentally in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle,” Ellison told CNBS on Monday, declaring that he would combine CNN with CBS News if Paramount is successful in its hostile takeover.

Ellison also said he’s had “great conversations” with Trump about Paramount’s plan for its proposed CBS-CNN news business, but added that he didn’t want to speak for Trump.

While MAGA influencers are taking to social media to rage against the Netflix deal, saying “TRUMP MUST STOP THIS,” CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter noted that CNN was being used as a political football throughout this entire saga.

“At the risk of repeating myself, Netflix isn't trying to buy CNN. But Paramount is,” he wrote on Monday morning, pointing out that “Ellison's actions ‘most recently mirror those of Elon Musk,’ who fought to take over Twitter and won.”

Source: MSN

Netflix to buy Warner Bros film and streaming businesses for $72bn

By Rachel Clun, Business reporter

Published 5 December 2025, 09:46 GMT

Netflix has agreed to buy the film and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery for $72bn (£54bn) in a major Hollywood deal.

The streaming giant emerged as the successful bidder for Warner Bros ahead of rivals Comcast and Paramount Skydance after a drawn-out battle.

Warner Bros owns franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and the streaming service HBO Max.

The takeover is set to create a new giant in the entertainment industry, but the deal will still have to be approved by competition authorities.

Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said the streamer was "highly confident" it would receive the regulatory approval it needs and it was running "full speed" towards this.

He said that by combining the library of Warner Bros shows and movies with the streaming platform's series such as Stranger Things, "we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling".

"Warner Bros have defined the last century of entertainment, and together we can define the next one," he said.

Asked whether HBO should remain a separate streaming service, co-chief executive Greg Peters said Netflix believed the HBO brand was important for consumers, but added: "We think it's quite early to get into the specifics of how we're going to tailor this offering for consumers."

Netflix estimates it will find $2bn to $3bn in savings, mostly through eliminating overlaps in the support and technology areas of the businesses. Films made by Warner Bros will continue to be launched in cinemas, it said, and Warner Bros television studio will continue to be able to produce for third parties. Netflix will keep producing content exclusively for its own platform.

Labelling it a "big day" for the companies, Mr Sarandos acknowledged the acquisition may have surprised some shareholders but it was a "rare opportunity" to set Netflix up for success "for decades to come".

David Zaslav, president and chief executive of Warner Bros, added the agreement would combine "two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world".

"By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world's most resonant stories for generations to come," he said.

The cash and stock deal is worth $27.75 per Warner Bros share, with a total enterprise value - which includes the company's debts and the value of its shares - of about $82.7bn. The equity value, or cash price, is $72bn.

The boards of directors from each company unanimously approved the deal.

Michael O'Leary, chief executive of trade organisation Cinema United, said the merger posed "an unprecedented threat" to the global cinema business.

"The negative impact of this acquisition will impact theatres from the biggest circuits to one-screen independents in small towns in the United States and around the world," he said.

Netflix will complete the takeover after Warner Bros finalises its previously announced plans to separate its streaming and studios division from its global networks division into two companies next year. Its global networks division will become Discovery Global and will include its cable channels such as CNN and TNT Sports in the US, as well as its Discovery and free-to-air channels in Europe.

However, TNT Sports International will stay with the streaming and studios division being sold to Netflix.

Hollywood shake-up

Paolo Pescatore, founder and technology media and telecom analyst at PP Foresight, said the sale was "a huge statement of intent and underlines Netflix aspirations to be a global leader in the new world order of streaming". But he warned that while the "surprising move" made sense for Warner Bros, it could "provide a headache for Netflix" when trying to combine the companies given the size of the deal.

While the agreed deal is for part of the Warner Bros business, rival Paramount had tabled a bid to buy the whole company, including its cable networks, in October. Warner Bros rejected this move before putting itself up for sale. Ahead of the announcement of the deal, Tom Harrington, head of television at Enders Analysis, said it was hard to gauge whether the takeover would be approved by regulators, but if it went through it would have a massive impact on cinema. "Were it to go through it would reorient Hollywood," he said.

Mr Harrington said there was likely to be "big reductions" in television and film output from a newly-merged company, which would lead to resistance to the move from parts of Hollywood and relevant unions.

For consumers, Mr Harrington said a merger was likely to lead to higher prices.

"Netflix would get more expensive and even though HBO Max would be shuttered/become non-essential, the greater penetration of Netflix households would likely mean an increase in total overall subscription revenues."

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said Netflix had "offered an olive branch" to Hollywood with the promise it would continue to release Warner Bros films on the big screen.

"If this deal can clear those significant regulatory hurdles quickly there are likely to be considerable cost savings to be made," she said.

"How much of those savings get passed to streaming platform subscribers or whether Netflix will be seen to have too much pricing power is one of the areas that will face a huge amount of scrutiny in the coming months."

With additional reporting by Natalie Sherman