Oscars 2026 A Night of History and the Golden Trophy

Oscars 2026 — A Night of History and the Golden Trophy the World Never Forgets
Full results of the 98th Academy Awards and the extraordinary story behind Oscar Statuette, the most famous trophy on earth


Every March, the world of cinema holds its breath and turns its attention to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles — because that is the night the Academy Awards place the world's most recognisable golden trophy into the hands of those who created the year's finest films. And in 2026, it was a night no one will forget quickly.


Oscars 2026 — Full Results
The 98th Academy Awards were held on Sunday, 15 March 2026 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Conan O'Brien returning for his second consecutive year. The Hollywood Reporter

Key Winners:

Best Picture: One Battle After Another
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
Best Actress: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan (Weapons)
Best Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters
Best Original Song: "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters
Best International Feature: Sentimental Value (Norway) The Hollywood Reporter

One Battle After Another — King of the Night
One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn. It also won Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and the newly created Best Casting award. Yahoo!

Anderson joked in his acceptance speech: "You make a guy work hard for one of these — I really appreciate it." Yahoo!


Sinners — Four Awards, Multiple Records
Ryan Coogler's Sinners made history across multiple categories. Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for his role as twins Smoke and Stack, while Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman and first woman of colour ever to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography. CNN

In his acceptance speech, Jordan thanked the Black actors who came before him. Yahoo!


Moments That Will Be Remembered
First New Category in 25 Years Best Achievement in Casting is the first new category at the Academy Awards in 25 years, since Best Animated Feature was introduced in 2001. CBS News

K-Pop Conquers the Oscars The song "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters became the first K-pop song in history to win the Oscar for Best Original Song. The Hollywood Reporter

Sean Penn Chose Ukraine Over the Oscars Best Supporting Actor winner Sean Penn skipped the ceremony entirely and was photographed the following day arriving in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky — a moment that created international headlines and dominated post-ceremony coverage. Yahoo!

A Historic Tie The Best Live Action Short Film category produced a rare tie between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva — only the seventh tie in Oscars history. Yahoo!


Oscar Statuette — The Story of the World's Most Famous Trophy
Before talking about the awards, the trophy itself deserves its moment. The Oscar Statuette is one of the most instantly recognisable objects on earth — a golden knight standing on a film reel, known by billions of people who have never attended a single film industry event.

Design and Materials The Oscar Statuette was designed by Cedric Gibbons, art director at MGM Studios, in 1928. The figure depicts a knight holding a sword and standing on a reel of film with five spokes, representing the five original branches of the Academy. It is made from tin and antimony, then plated with copper, nickel, silver and finally 24-carat gold.

Height: 34.3 centimetres
Weight: 3.86 kilograms
Material value: approximately $400-500 USD
Manufacturer: R.S. Owens & Company, Chicago, since 1982
Why Is It Called Oscar? The most celebrated origin story attributes the name to actress Bette Davis, who reportedly said the trophy reminded her of the backside of her husband, Oscar Nelson. Newspapers picked up the name, it spread, and the Academy officially adopted it in 1939.

World War II — Plaster Oscars During World War II from 1942 to 1944, the Academy replaced gold-plated metal with plaster to conserve materials for the war effort. Winners from that era were later able to exchange their plaster statuettes for proper metal ones after the war ended.


Oscar Statuette and the Power of Trophy Design
The Oscar Statuette has proven across 98 years that a trophy designed with genuine meaning and distinctive character can become a symbol recognised by the entire world without any explanation required. That is the power of a well-crafted trophy — it communicates achievement, aspiration and honour the moment someone lays eyes on it. It is the same principle that guides every piece created at MGCrystalTrophy: a trophy should make the recipient feel the weight of their achievement every time they see it.


Final Thought
The 2026 Oscars was a night of multiple records and historic firsts — the first new award category in a quarter century, the first woman to win Best Cinematography, the first K-pop song to win Best Original Song, and a Best Supporting Actor winner who chose Ukraine over Hollywood. And through all of it, the golden figure of the Oscar Statuette stood as it always has — the most universally understood symbol of creative excellence that the world has ever produced.