Madeline Gearheart | March 15, 2023

The 20 Most Award-Nominated Films in Hollywood History

Contents

• The Most Award-Nominated Films in Hollywood History [Infographic]
• Interesting Findings
• Methodology
• About USDISH

Ah, the Academy Awards: that special night when Oscar nominations turn into wins and losses before heaven, the internet, and all of broadcast TV, and the public gets a turn to critique film, fashion, and pop culture.

This year, the team at USDISH wanted to revisit our report on the most nominated films of all time. So we ran the numbers to see which new films would join the elite 20 movies with the most Oscars—and other major awards from the Hollywood circuit.

Can you guess which award-winning movies made the list this time? Check your instincts below, and see if our findings can give you the edge in your next Oscars bracket.

The Most Award-Nominated Films in Hollywood History

 Interesting Findings

• Since our last report, three newer titles beat older titles for a spot in the top 20 most nominated films of all time: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), and The Power of the Dog (2021).
• The titles that got bumped from our first report include Les Misérables (2012), The Hours (2002), and Mank (2020).
• Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) smashed multiple records on its way to becoming the most nominated film in Hollywood history.
  • The film dethroned The King’s Speech (2010), which held the #1 spot for 13 years, and won 41% of its nominations.
  • Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for best actress in a lead role, making her the first Asian woman and second woman of color to win the award. Halle Berry, the first woman of color to win, handed Yeoh the award onstage.
  • The film also became the third movie in Hollywood history to win three acting Oscars.
    • In addition Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis won Oscars for supporting roles.
    • The only other films to achieve this record include A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Network (1976).
• The Power of the Dog (2021) took tenth position for most nominated Hollywood film of all time.
  • The period Western won 10 of its 40 total award nominations, snagging a win rate of 25%.
  • Other award-winning films with the same number of nominations include The Artist (2011), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chicago (2002), and 12 Years a Slave (2013). 
• Academy Award wins, which come last in the season, correlate positively with a film’s Golden Globe, SAG Award, and BAFTA wins. The more of these awards a film has, the more Oscars it wins.
  • The Critics’ Choice Awards shows an opposite trend: the more CCAs a movie has, the fewer Oscars it wins.
• Only 3 award-winning movies won half or more of their total nominations: La La Land (2016) and Gravity (2013) each won 56%. The Artist (2011) won exactly 50%.

Methodology

First, we compiled a list of the most-nominated and most-awarded movies by five prominent organizations in Western film. We then ranked the movies by total nominations and reported the top 20, along with each film’s overall win rate.

Our report considers titles nominated by only these five organizations:

1. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars)
2. Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes)
3. British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs)
4. Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards
5. Critics’ Choice Movie Awards

About USDISH

USDISH is not affiliated with any of the award organizations mentioned in this article. Subsequently, USDISH does not participate in giving the awards or predicting future wins from any organization.

For any media inquiries, contact media@usdish.com. USDISH is an authorized reseller of DISH Network.