Oscar race enters final stretch as Sinners gains ground with Actor awards win

Voting for the Oscars closed at 5pm PT on Thursday, bringing months of campaigning to an end. What began with late-summer festivals in Venice, Telluride and Toronto and peaked in mid-February had become a full-time preoccupation for the industry, with every critics’ nod and guild snub examined for what it might mean.

An Oscar still carries financial and career weight: a Best Picture win is associated with an average box-office bounce of $39m (£29m), and awards can transform the fortunes of actors, directors and below-the-line crew. The Actor awards, given by the performers’ union, delivered a surprise when Michael B Jordan won best actor for Sinners.

The Ryan Coogler-directed vampire thriller, featuring Jordan in a double role, has been nominated for a record 16 Oscars and is locked in a long-running contest with Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Chase Infiniti.

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