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The Critics Choice Awards 2026 recognised the biggest films and TV series of the past year, with Netflix’s Adolescence dominating the TV categories

The Critics Choice Awards served as a grand stage for the year’s most celebrated films and TV series to receive their well-deserved accolades. With big-screen blockbusters and Netflix sensations vying for esteemed awards, the competition was fierce.

Among the nominated films were Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s ‘Wicked: For Good’, and Netflix’s fresh take on ‘Frankenstein’ by renowned director Guillermo del Toro. A-listers such as Timothée Chalamet and Emma Stone were also in the running for individual honours.

The star-studded ceremony acknowledged excellence in music, stunts, animation, and production design. Two titles reigned supreme, with Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ emerging as the top TV victor of the night.

In the film categories, ‘Frankenstein’ scooped up four awards, alongside Ryan Coogler’s redemption tale ‘Sinners’. The event drew a host of celebrities, including Kylie Jenner who attended in support of her beau, Chalamet.

Here’s a rundown of the winners and nominees from the Critics Choice Awards 2026.

Best Picture

Winner: One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Wicked: For Good

Best Actor

Winner: Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme

Nominees:

Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another

Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress

Winner: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet

Nominees:

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another

Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value

Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Director

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Ryan Coogler for Sinners

Nominees:

Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer, Jay Kelly

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Zach Cregger, Weapons

Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Train Dreams

Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar, Jahye Lee, No Other Choice

Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

Will Tracy, Bugonia

Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet

Best Stunt Design

Winner: Wade Eastwood for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Nominees:

Stephen Dunlevy, Kyle Gardiner, Jackson Spidell, Jeremy Marinas, Jan Petina, Domonkos Párdányi, Kinga Kósa-Gavalda, Ballerina

Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta, Craig Dolby, F1

Brian Machleit, One Battle After Another

Andy Gill, Sinners

Giedrius Nagys, Warfare

Best Score

Winner: Ludwig Göransson for Sinners

Nominees:

Hans Zimmer, F1

Alexandre Desplat, Frankenstein

Max Richter, Hamnet

Daniel Lopatin, Marty Supreme

Jonny Greenwood, One Battle After Another

Best Film Made for Television

Winner: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Nominees:

Deep Cover

The Gorge

Mountainhead

Nonnas

Summer of ’69

Best Variety Series

Winner: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Nominees:

Conan O’Brien Must Go

Saturday Night Live

Best Animated Feature

Winner: KPop Demon Hunters

Nominees:

Arco

Elio

In Your Dreams

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Best Song

Winner: “Golden” – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy from KPop Demon Hunters

Nominees:

“Drive” – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1

“I Lied to You” – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

“Clothed by the Sun” – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee

“Train Dreams” – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good

Best Drama Series

Winner: The Pitt

Nominees:

Alien: Earth

Andor

The Diplomat

Paradise

Pluribus

Severance

Task

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Winner: Rhea Seehorn for Pluribus

Nominees:

Kathy Bates, Matlock

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age

Britt Lower, Severance

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Winner: Noah Wyle for The Pitt

Nominees:

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

Diego Luna, Andor

Mark Ruffalo, Task

Adam Scott, Severance

Billy Bob Thornton, Landman

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Winner: Tramell Tillman for Severance

Nominees:

Patrick Ball, The Pitt

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show

Ato Essandoh, The Diplomat

Wood Harris, Forever

Tom Pelphrey, Task

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Winner: Katherine LaNasa for The Pitt

Nominees:

Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show

Denée Benton, The Gilded Age

Allison Janney, The Diplomat

Greta Lee, The Morning Show

Skye P. Marshall, Matlock

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Amy Madigan for Weapons

Nominees:

Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value

Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another

Paul Mescal, Hamnet

Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Comedy Series

Winner: The Studio

Nominees:

Abbott Elementary

Elsbeth

Ghosts

Hacks

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

The Righteous Gemstones

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Winner: Jean Smart for Hacks

Nominees:

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This

Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face

Rose McIver, Ghosts

Edi Patterson, The Righteous Gemstones

Carrie Preston, Elsbeth

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Winner: Seth Rogen for The Studio

Nominees:

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This

Ted Danson, A Man on the Inside

David Alan Grier, St. Denis Medical

Danny McBride, The Righteous Gemstones

Alexander Skarsgård, Murderbot

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Winner: Ike Barinholtz for The Studio

Nominees:

Paul W. Downs, Hacks

Asher Grodman, Ghosts

Oscar Nuñez, The Paper

Chris Perfetti, Abbott Elementary

Timothy Simons, Nobody Wants This

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Winner: Janelle James for Abbott Elementary

Nominees:

Danielle Brooks, Peacemaker

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Justine Lupe, Nobody Wants This

Ego Nwodim, Saturday Night Live

Rebecca Wisocky, Ghosts

Best Talk Show

Winner: Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Nominees:

The Daily Show

Hot Ones

Late Night with Seth Meyers

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

Best Casting and Ensemble

Winner: Francine Maisler for Sinners

Nominees:

Nina Gold, Hamnet

Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold, Jay Kelly

Jennifer Venditti, Marty Supreme

Cassandra Kulukundis, One Battle After Another

Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey, Wicked: For Good

Best Limited Series

Winner: Adolescence

Nominees:

All Her Fault

Chief of War

Death by Lightning

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Dope Thief

Dying for Sex

The Girlfriend

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Sarah Snook for All Her Fault

Nominees:

Jessica Biel, The Better Sister

Meghann Fahy, Sirens

Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex

Robin Wright, The Girlfriend

Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Stephen Graham for Adolescence

Nominees:

Michael Chernus, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief

Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me

Michael Shannon, Death by Lightning

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Owen Cooper, Adolescence

Nominees:

Wagner Moura, Dope Thief

Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning

Michael Peña, All Her Fault

Ashley Walters, Adolescence

Ramy Youssef, Mountainhead

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Erin Doherty, Adolescence

Nominees:

Betty Gilpin, Death by Lightning

Marin Ireland, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Sophia Lillis, All Her Fault

Julianne Moore, Sirens

Christine Tremarco, Adolescence

Best Young Actor / Actress

Winner: Miles Caton in Sinners

Nominees:

Everett Blunck, The Plague

Cary Christopher, Weapons

Shannon Mahina Gorman, Rental Family

Jacobi Jupe, Hamnet

Nina Ye, Left-Handed Girl

Best Foreign Language Film

Winner: The Secret Agent

Nominees:

It Was Just an Accident

Left-Handed Girl

No Other Choice

Sirt

Belé

Best Comedy

Winner: The Naked Gun

Nominees:

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Eternity

Friendship

The Phoenician Scheme

Splitsville

Best Foreign Language Series

Winner: Squid Game

Nominees:

Acapulco

Last Samurai Standing

Mussolini: Son of the Century

Red Alert

When No One Sees Us

Best Animated Series

Winner: South Park

Nominees:

Bob’s Burgers

Harley Quinn

Long Story Short

Marvel Zombies

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man

Best Cinematography

Winner: Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams

Nominees:

Claudio Miranda, F1

Dan Laustsen, Frankenstein

Łukasz Żal, Hamnet

Michael Bauman, One Battle After Another

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners

Best Comedy Special

Winner: SNL50: The Anniversary Special

Nominees:

Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian

Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things

Marc Maron: Panicked

Sarah Silverman: PostMortem

Best Production Design

Winner: Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis, The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton, Hamnet

Jack Fisk, Adam Willis, Marty Supreme

Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne, Sinners

Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales, Wicked: For Good

Best Editing

Winner: Stephen Mirrione for F1

Nominees:

Kirk Baxter, A House of Dynamite

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Andy Jurgensen, One Battle After Another

Viridiana Lieberman, The Perfect Neighbour

Michael P. Shawver, Sinners

Best Costume Design

Winner: Kate Hawley for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Malgosia Turzanska, Hamnet

Lindsay Pugh, Hedda

Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella, Kiss of the Spider Woman

Ruth E. Carter, Sinners

Paul Tazewell, Wicked: For Good

Best Hair and Makeup

Winner: Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Flora Moody, John Nolan, 28 Years Later

Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry, Sinners

Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal, The Smashing Machine

Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins, Weapons

Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount, Wicked: For Good

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett for Avatar: Fire and Ash

Nominees:

Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson, F1

Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell, Frankenstein

Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean, Sinners

Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams, Superman

Best Sound

Winner: Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John for F1

Nominees:

Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Greg Chapman – Frankenstein

Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor – One Battle After Another

Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco, David V. Butler – Sinners

Laia Casanovas – Sirt

Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner – Warfare

*For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website*

As “Avatar: Fire and Ash” headed to the big screen this month, theater owners held their breath.

In an uneven year that saw two billion-dollar hits and a viral “chicken jockey” craze, but also a disastrous first quarter and a nearly 30-year-low at the October box office, the end of December was the last chance for theaters to make up ground.

But even James Cameron and the Na’vi — the latest “Avatar” film has already grossed more than $472 million globally — couldn’t save 2025 from a disappointing conclusion.

Box-office revenue in the U.S. and Canada is expected to total $8.87 billion for the year, up just 1.5% from last year’s disappointing $8.74 billion tally, according to movie data firm Comscore. More troubling is that 2025’s domestic box-office haul is projected to be down more than 20% compared with 2019, before the pandemic changed audiences’ movie-going habits and turbocharged streaming in ways that the exhibition industry is still grappling with.

The problem: Fewer people are buying movie tickets. Theatrical attendance is running below last year’s levels, with an estimated 760 million tickets sold as of Dec. 25, according to media and entertainment data firm EntTelligence. Last year, total ticket sales for 2024 exceeded 800 million.

Part of the explanation for the falloff in cinema revenue and admissions lies in the movies themselves.

Industry experts and theater owners say the quality and frequency of releases led to dips in the calendar that put extra pressure on the other movies to perform. Once-reliable genres such as comedies and dramas are facing a much tougher time in theaters, and female moviegoers — who came out in droves in 2023 for “Barbie” — were underserved in a year that largely skewed toward male-leaning blockbusters.

“It’s fair to say that 2025 didn’t quite reach the levels many of us expected at the start of the year,” Eduardo Acuna, chief executive of Regal Cineworld, said in a statement. “A big part of that comes down to a lack of depth in the release schedule, and the struggle of many smaller titles to break through.”

Even big-name stars such as Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Dwayne Johnson and Sydney Sweeney couldn’t prop up attendance for films such as Sony Pictures’ “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” A24’s “The Smashing Machine” and Black Bear Pictures’ “Christy,” all of which flopped.

And despite the critical acclaim and stacked cast list for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” the film has stalled domestically at $71 million, with a global total of $205 million.

“One Battle After Another” had a budget of about $130 million, while “The Smashing Machine” reportedly cost $50 million and has grossed just $21 million worldwide.

“The challenge facing Hollywood is how to reconcile the budgets of these films with how much they can earn in theaters and down the road, eventually, in streaming,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore.

Universal Pictures’ “Wicked: For Good” hauled in more than $324 million, but it was one of few big blockbusters targeted to women. (Taylor Swift’s “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” which brought in $50 million globally, was another.)

Though the summer was marked by a number of big films, including Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios’ “Superman,” Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” and Apple’s “F1 The Movie,” most were geared toward male audiences.

Female-focused films are “are few and far between,” said Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, an entertainment data and research firm. “There should be something for everyone playing most of the time, and that isn’t the case.”

To be sure, there were some bright spots for the industry, including success from young audiences.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ “A Minecraft Movie” was the highest-grossing domestic film this year, with $423.9 million. Close behind was Walt Disney Co.’s live-action adaptation “Lilo & Stitch,” which collected $423.8 million in the U.S. and Canada and a total of $1 billion worldwide.

Counting those two, five of the year’s top 10 domestic-grossing films had PG ratings, including “Wicked: For Good,” Disney’s animated “Zootopia 2” and Universal’s live-action “How to Train Your Dragon.”

“In general, the good news about the year is that most of the big hits involved young audiences,” said Tom Rothman, chair and CEO chief executive of Sony Pictures’ motion picture group. “There is a bit of a youth-quake.”

Disney capitalized on the big year for family-friendly fare.

The Burbank entertainment giant recently crossed $6 billion at the global box office for the year, powered by billion-dollar hits such as “Lilo & Stitch” and “Zootopia 2,” and marking the company’s biggest year since 2019. (Though it wasn’t all sunny for Disney this year, as Pixar’s original animated film “Elio” misfired, as did the live-action film, “Snow White,” which was mired in controversy.)

Another notable youth driver was “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” from Sony Pictures in partnership with its anime banner, Crunchyroll. The film had a massive opening weekend haul of $70 million in July on its way to a domestic gross of $134 million and a global total of $715 million, highlighting the increasing popularity of anime.

“The mainstreaming of anime at the theatrical box office is a really significant part of what happened this year and a really good sign,” Rothman said. “You’re bringing in young audiences.”

Not surprisingly, established intellectual property — whether video games, known franchises, novels or comic books — still topped the charts this year, with nine of the top 10 domestic films tied to an existing title.

That familiarity at the box office counts when moviegoers, particularly families, are looking for movies to watch. Viewers can be choosy about how they spend their cash and time, and may not always want to gamble on a movie they’ve never heard of.

“Meaningful IP still has an advantage in getting people to come to the theater, though it’s not the only way to do it,” said Adam Fogelson, chair of Lionsgate’s motion picture group, which saw success this year with an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel “The Long Walk,” as well as franchise film “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.”

Horror flicks also scared up plenty of business in 2025. Warner Bros., in particular, had a string of wins in fearful films, including Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” Zach Cregger’s “Weapons” and “Final Destination Bloodlines.”

In one notable exception, Blumhouse had a rare miss with “M3GAN 2.0,” the follow-up to the 2022 cult favorite. In an interview on “The Town” podcast, Blumhouse Productions Chief Executive Jason Blum blamed the sequel’s shortcomings on a change in genre from the original.

As 2025 draws to a close, industry insiders and theater owners are more optimistic about next year’s box office prospects.

Several big films are set to release in 2026, including Christopher Nolan’s much anticipated “The Odyssey,” Disney and Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Three,” as well as Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” from Universal, Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment.

That anticipation is also clouded by the uncertainty of the impending Warner Bros. deal and what that will mean for movie releases.

Many cinema owners fear that a takeover by Netflix will limit or eliminate the theatrical exclusivity of Warner Bros. films, though Netflix executives have said they will honor the company’s current and future commitments to the big screen. And if Paramount were to buy the company, theatrical exhibitors fear that the number of films would decrease, leaving them with less content to show. (Paramount CEO David Ellison has said the company did not plan to release fewer movies.)

Any deal is expected to take at least a year to complete.

In the meantime, Hollywood will wait to see how strong the 2026 slate truly is.

“There are a lot of great titles out there, and that’s why people have been calling 2026 a return to form,” said Bock of Exhibitor Relations. “Even though 2026 is very promising, can Hollywood keep delivering year-in and year-out?”

Fire replaces water as the elemental character in James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” It’s even weaponized by Varang (Oona Chaplin), the ruthless leader of the volcano-dwelling Ash People, in their war against the rest of the Na’vi tribes.

“After figuring out water in all its complexity in [‘The Way of Water’], we focused on fire,” Cameron said about his VFX Oscar front-runner. “Fire is very much the same — you have to be very observant of [this] in the world. This is where having an understanding of physics — which I do — helps, and this is where a lot of real-world photography and reference comes in handy.”

Creating more realistic-looking fire in CG required Cameron to apply his understanding of fuel and how it burns, including flow rates, the interaction of temperature gradients, the speed of an object that’s burning and the formation of carbon and soot.

In essence, fire became the centerpiece of every scene — and a character with its own escalating drama. That’s where the VFX wizards of Wētā FX in New Zealand came in. They developed Kora, a high-fidelity tool set for physics-based chemical combustion simulations. Kora increased the scale of fire while providing more artist-friendly controls. The film contains more than 1,000 digital fire FX shots, ranging from flaming arrows and flamethrowers to massive explosions and fire tornadoes.

“Physical fire is really hard to control, so we had to come up with how to bend the physics towards the direction that Jim was giving it,” said Wētā senior VFX supervisor Joe Letteri. “Because he was very specific where he wanted the fire, what kind of speed, rate, size, how much or how little energy. He very carefully crafted every component, guiding your eye across it.”

“Fire serves two roles,” added Eric Saindon, a VFX supervisor at Wētā. “There’s always a little bit of low fire going on during quiet moments, but then you get fire that becomes much more destructive whenever there’s an attack sequence.”

In the film’s best scene, where archvillain Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and Varang meet for the first time in her tent, fire takes on a more subtle, mysterious quality. She gives Quaritch a trippy “truth drug” to ascertain his real agenda, seductively playing with fire with her fingers like a sorceress. The scene turns surreal with camera distortion and zoom shots to convey his hallucinatory point of view.

Then Quaritch surprises her with his superpower: the truth. He proposes a partnership to provide his military weaponry so she can spread her fire across the world and he can rule as her co-equal. “In a strange way, they become the power couple from hell,” Cameron said. “He wins her over by sharing his vision.”

Meanwhile, the subtle flicker of fire with cool blues around the edges of the flame is like a magic trick. “She knows it’s about theater, so she presumably has some kind of a gel or makeup that’s on the tips of her fingers so that they just don’t burn away in the first few seconds,” Cameron continued. “She’s able to dip her fingers in some kind of inflammable oil and light them and have them burn like candles. Of course, in his mind, it’s all enhanced much more due to the hallucinogen.”

Cameron praised both actors in the scene, but singled out Chaplin’s performance for the force she brings to Varang’s shamanistic authority. “She understood how the character would manifest her power psychologically and how there was a flip in the scene, where the flow of power runs the other direction at a certain point.”

The director also commended Wētā’s facial capture animation team for achieving a new level of photorealism, thanks in large measure to more realistic muscle and skin movement. “The way Oona’s performance comes through so resoundingly in the character is a tribute to a lot of R&D, a lot of development in the facial pipeline. But I think it really demonstrates how the idea of CG as a kind of digital makeup really does work. What I’m proud about in that scene is that it’s a culmination of an almost 20-year journey in terms of getting exact verisimilitude in the facial representation of the characters as an extension of the actors’ work.”

“It was really fun showing Varang to Jim because he knew what he had in the performance,” added Dan Barrett, a senior animation supervisor at Wētā. “And he included Oona’s idiosyncrasies in the final animation. He was very respectful of the performance.”

In fact, Cameron argues, Chaplin’s performance as Varang is Oscar-worthy. “It may be counterintuitive, but I would argue that it’s a more pure form of acting,” he suggested. “Now, you may say that it’s cheating in terms of the cinematography in the sense that the cards are stacked in our favor because that perfect performance will always be there and will be repeatable as I do my different camera coverage. But it’s not cheating in terms of the acting.”

Cameron has recently been more proactive in demonstrating how the performance-capture process works to academy and SAG-AFTRA acting members so they can better understand it. “It was just us, working on capturing a scene, and I even wrote new scenes so it wasn’t a made-up dog-and-pony show. And they were blown away,” he added.

Has there been a year this decade when we’ve been sad to see it go?

I thought about that while reading our “25 ways to banish this no good, very bad year” list, which contains some terrific ideas, and I’d be very happy to watch you jump into the Pacific on New Year’s Day, if you feel so inclined. But they’re all predicated on the idea that this year has given off a stench that needs to be smothered, the same way you’d cleanse your dog in tomato juice after an encounter with a skunk.

And this is true. Even Game 7 of the World Series can’t erase the heartache that 2025 has inflicted upon us, though props to Kiké Hernández for doing his best to distract from the headlines.

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter, wishing you and yours a better new year. It’s a low bar. I’m optimistic we can jump it.

Predicting ‘Avatar’s’ Oscar chances

Did anyone really want to see a third “Avatar” movie?

Sure, someone must have. It sold $89 million in tickets last weekend, though that number fell short of analysts’ forecast for James Cameron’s three-hour movie. For comparison, 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” brought in $134 million in its opening weekend. That movie, like the series’ 2009 first film, built its $2-billion-plus box office over time.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” may well do the same.

Still, doesn’t it feel like there should be more excitement to go see a movie that might gross $2 billion worldwide? Maybe you were among the first in line to see it last Friday. No judgment. I’ve seen every Cameron movie in a theater, a streak I suspect will continue as long as he’s making films.

The thing is, Cameron himself is giving the distinct impression that he’s ready to move on from “Avatar,” even though he has already written scripts for the fourth and fifth entries in the franchise. He has other projects in the works, adapting “Ghosts of Hiroshima,” which revolves around the true story of the only survivor of both atomic bombs dropped on Japan. And he has teased a “Terminator” reboot.

Cameron is 71, a kid compared to Ridley Scott (88) and Martin Scorsese (83), but still … the clock is ticking.

Do you want him devote another three years (or more) to the lush, gorgeous world of Pandora?

Maybe if “Avatar: Fire and Ash” had spent less time repeating the same themes — and, sometimes, the same scenes — almost beat for beat from the “The Way of Water,” I’d feel differently. The new movie is, of course, a visual feast, though with just three years between the second and third films, the technological advances don’t feel as awe-inspiring this time around. Cameron remains adept at world-building and creating tense action set pieces. He’s also unrivaled at serving up lumpy dialogue, and the new film has serious pacing issues. “Fire and Ash” feels every bit like a 197-minute movie.

When I did my last set of Oscar best picture power rankings on Nov. 3, I put “Fire and Ash” at No. 10, sight unseen. This was in part because Cameron is Cameron and deserves respect and also because would-be contenders like “A House of Dynamite,” “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” “The Smashing Machine” and “After the Hunt” weren’t connecting with voters.

But the franchise fatigue with “Avatar” feels real. It’ll still probably win the visual effects Oscar and pick up a nomination for sound. But I suspect it’s going to fall just outside the 10 movies nominated for best picture.

If that happens, will anyone cry “snub”? Likely not. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” can still inspire wonder, but for the first time in his career, Cameron is spinning his wheels. It feels like he’s ready to return to Earth.

More coverage of ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

The Na’vi won the battle of the box office this weekend, as “Avatar: Fire and Ash” hauled in a hefty $88 million in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend.

The third installment of the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios’ “Avatar” franchise brought in an estimated total of $345 million globally, with about $257 million of that coming from international audiences. The movie reportedly has a budget of at least $350 million.

Box office analysts had expected a big international response to the most recent film, particularly since its predecessor “Avatar: The Way of Water” had strong showings in markets like Germany, France and China.

In China, the film opened to an estimated $57.6 million, marking the second highest 2025 opening for a U.S. film in the country since Disney’s “Zootopia 2” a few weeks ago. (That film went on to gross more than $271.7 million in China on its way to a global box office total of $1.1 billion.)

The strong response in China is another sign that certain movies can still do well in the country, which was once seen as a key force multiplier for big blockbusters and animated family films but has in recent years cooled to American movies due to geopolitics and the rise of its domestic film industry.

Angel Studio’s animated biblical tale “David” came in second at the box office this weekend, with an estimated domestic gross of $22 million. Lionsgate thriller “The Housemaid,” Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies’ “The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants” and “Zootopia 2” rounded out the top five.

The weekend’s haul likely comes as a relief to theater owners, who have weathered a roller coaster year.

After a difficult first three months, the spring brought hits like “A Minecraft Movie” and “Sinners” before the summer ended mostly flat. A sleepy fall brought panic to the exhibition business until closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, when “Wicked: For Good” and “Zootopia 2” drew in audiences.

Phil Wickham has released 14 Christian worship albums, has been Platinum certified and nominated for American Music Awards, Dove Awards, Billboard Music Awards and Grammys — but all of his vocal training and performances couldn’t prepare him to step into the shoes of one of his Biblical heroes with the upcoming animated musical film “David.”

Directed by Phil Cunningham and Brent Dawes, “David” marks the second animated film this year for Angel Studios. April’s “The King of Kings” made $60 million and is the second-highest-grossing film from the studio following “Sound of Freedom,” which made $184 million. The film hits theaters on Friday. If the release date sounds familiar, it could be because the third installment in the multibillion-dollar “Avatar” franchise, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” is released on the same day. Presale numbers for “David” are at $15 million on 3,100 screens, but with “Avatar” tracking to open between $135 million and $165 million, and “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” also tracking between $13 million and $20 million, it would seem to be a true David vs. Goliaths for ticket sales.

That in itself could be daunting, but for Wickham, the biggest obstacles came long before release dates were decided. Despite playing in arenas with thousands of fans, he had a “secret dream” of voicing a character in an animated film. A character “that carried courage and faith and had some grand adventure.” But because he’d never chased that dream, he realistically put a limit on that particular goal. Even when the opportunity arose, he was hesitant when going into a casting meeting.

“I’m unoffendable. [I said to producers], if I suck, then just tell me because I don’t want to waste anybody’s time. And also, I don’t want to be bad in a movie as much as you don’t want to make a bad movie,” says Wickham.

The contemporary Christian artist, who recently finished sold-out concerts at Downey Calvary Chapel and the Wiltern, had never tried his hand at voice acting. Not only did he get the role, but he also had to help bring to (animated) life one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. The tale of David — the boy who was anointed to become the king and along the way felled the giant Philistine warrior Goliath with a rock and a slingshot — has become synonymous as the most famous of underdog representations and tests of faith in the Bible. The character and story is also one of Wickham’s favorites.

“When this came across my desk, so to speak, I was just like, man, I could tell you that story, but I didn’t know if I had it in me. I didn’t know if I was a good actor. I didn’t know if I could voice a character, but I knew I wanted a shot,” said Wickham.

A curious revelation for Wickham was discovering that the singing that he’d been doing most of his life would not work on-screen, at least not for this project. He was asked to tone down things, to sometimes “talk through” lyrics and to generally make the music more dramatic for the screen.

“I thought, OK, I got this. This is why they hired me, because I’m a singer. But that ended up being the hardest part because they didn’t want me to sound like me,” Wickham said.

“Singing became a background to just being the character, which honestly, in some ways, was the hardest thing. Maybe even for my ego as as an artist.”

It was definitely a process that required lots of fine-tuning and looking at David as not just the king and hero that Wickham had grown up reading about at home and in Southern California churches. Sitting in the pews in Downey, the singer reflected on why he got into music and why Christian entertainment is on the rise.

“I found out really quick that I loved being a part of moments where people were encountering the same hope and faith that I encountered in my room alone,” Wickham said of songwriting and performing. He grew up with Christianity all around him, but has seen a spike in popularity for music and movies dealing with faith-based fandom.

“For this movie ‘David’ to come out at this time … I think that the world is looking for stuff to hope in. I think people are just searching and finding out more and more the truth that if we look around us at the world of man, we’re not going to find real solutions. So that maybe if we look up, we will.”