Epic 2026 Oscar Contender Can't Displace Gerard Butler's New Action Sequel in Tight Competition

1 week ago 9

Published Feb 4, 2026, 3:30 PM EST

In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 2500 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix's Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom.

Following the recent announcement of this year's Academy Award nominees, the race for Oscar glory has gone up a gear. Two movies stand out as favorites for the most prizes: Paul Thomas Anderson's politically charged masterpiece, One Battle After Another, and Ryan Coogler's genius vampire flick Sinners, which has become the most-nominated movie of all time. It is difficult to imagine any other title taking home the majority of the prizes handed out on March 15, but, as Anora's dominance in 2025 and Will Smith's slap heard around the world have proven, anything can happen at the Oscars.

One movie, perhaps not a favorite to win many awards, but certainly destined to pick up one of the biggest of the night, is the Chloé Zhao-directed Hamnet. After winning the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Jessie Buckley is far and away the favorite to take home the Best Actress prize at the 2026 Oscars, with her emotionally devastating, career-best performance helping propel the movie to higher box office heights than many had predicted. At the time of writing, Hamnet has earned $58 million worldwide, split between a domestic haul of $20 million and a further $38 million from overseas markets.

As it still hangs around in theaters, finishing in tenth place across the most recent domestic weekend, Hamnet made its way onto digital on February 3. Instantly, the movie has found its way onto the iTunes charts, officially finishing fifth on its first day. However, surprisingly, the new arrival couldn't displace one of the biggest flops of the year so far in Greenland 2: Migration, which grossed just over $20 million worldwide against a reported budget of $90 million. Currently, the Gerard Butler-led sequel is in third place on the iTunes charts.

'Hamnet' Is "One of the Year's Best Movies"

Thanks not just to Buckley's lead performance but to the gorgeous set design, a delicate Max Richter score, and typically nuanced direction from Zhao, Hamnet is likely to become an Oscar winner and has been dubbed by Collider's Ross Bonaime as "one of the year's best movies" in his official review. Bonaime wrote, "Hamnet captures the beautiful aching that makes up life in all its forms, and it makes for one of the most profound and staggering works you’ll see this year."

Hamnet is available in theaters and on digital. Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming stories.