Sinners vs. The Exorcist
Can 2025’s Wildest Horror Contender Break Oscar History?
By Lisa Hatzenbeller | November 2, 2025
Horror season is over. The pumpkins are gone, the fake blood is dry, and social feeds have moved on from witches to awards chatter.
But horror didn’t clock out. One contender refused to leave the room.
For half a century, The Exorcist has been the horror sovereign of the Academy.
Ten nominations.
Two wins.
A cultural shockwave so intense audiences fainted, theaters stocked smelling salts, and America debated whether cinema had finally gone too far. That was horror forcing the world to face it, not asking for permission.
Now awards season is heating up, and Sinners is not tip-toeing in. It’s entering like a challenger stepping into the ring, eyes locked on the most sacred number in horror Oscar history: ten.
Michael B. Jordan, who knows his way around a boxing ring, delivers a split-soul performance as Smoke and Stack with a quiet ferocity that doesn’t need to shout to be felt.
Regarding the “is Sinners really a horror” argument.
If Sinners ties or breaks the record, the fight will not be about stats. It will be about purity. Gatekeepers clutching their pearls, insisting horror must look chaotic and traumatic to count. Define horror, however you need to feel clever at brunch. The label always stretches when nostalgia is involved and tightens the second someone new gets close to the throne.
Sinners is not trying to be The Exorcist. It is trying to stand beside it in the only arena where this comparison matters: Oscar history.
This is not fear against fear. This is legacy against ambition. A legend defending its throne, and a modern contender stepping into the ring anyway.
The fight is simple.
The Exorcist built the kingdom.
Sinners is approaching the gates with box-office receipts, ambition, and enough swagger to make the Academy look twice.
Records can be tied.
Records can be broken.
Crowns are another story.
The Exorcist will always be the king of horror. That crown is locked.
The open question this season: who becomes the king of Oscar Horror?
So, is Sinners making history, or auditioning for a crown it cannot take?
The Benchmark: The Exorcist’s Run and Why It Still Stands Alone
Before we talk Sinners, we need to remember what it is chasing.
The Exorcist did not simply collect ten nominations, it denotated Hollywood’s idea of what horror could be. It shifted the ground under Hollywood’s feet, becoming the first horror film nominated for Best Picture. And it competed in more categories than horror was ever expected to touch – across Director (William Friedkin), Lead Actress (Ellen Burstyn), Supporting Actress (Linda Blair), Lead Actor (Jason Miller), Cinematography, Art/Set Direction, and Film Editing – and it took home wins for Sound and Adapted Screenplay.
Audiences didn’t simply watch The Exorcist. They braced for it.
Released the day after Christmas, people arrived anxious and left shaken. Lines wrapped blocks, newspapers published warnings, priests protested theaters, ambulances were stationed outside screenings. Fear was not a marketing tool. Fear was the experience. The Exorcist forced itself into the cultural bloodstream and left claw marks.
When we talk about a throne – this is it.
A record not only built on nominations but on shock, influence, and cultural force. A film that terrified audiences and impressed voters in equal measure, at a time when horror wasn’t allowed near the Academy’s front door.
Fifty-one years later, nothing has matched that combination – not in volume, not in impact, not in legacy.
Which is exactly why this season feels charged.
The record has survived prestige shifts, genre waves, elevated horror cycles, and decades of contenders. And now a challenger is close enough to read the engraving
Financially, The Exorcist hit the industry like a possession. A modest $11M budget. A theatrical run worth roughly $193M then and around $1.41B in today’s dollars. We adjust for inflation here. If you are going to crown kings, the math should be fair.
Enter Sinners
Sinners broke the playbook.
It arrived in April. No prestige-season glow, no festival applause, no recency safety net. It walked into Awards season early and refused to leave the conversation.
That alone would make it notable.
Staying relevant all year? That’s historic energy
It has studio power.
It has audience interest.
It has critics in its corner.
And it has Ryan Coogler directing Michael B. Jordan – their fifth collaboration with a spotless record.
Coogler shot this film simultaneously on Ultra Panavision 70 and IMAX 70mm – not as a gimmick, but as artistic intent. Craft over noise. Cinema over marketing.
Michael B. Jordan anchors the film with his dual rules, Smoke and Stack. Two men, two energies, one performance with zero shortcuts. Delroy Lindo brings gravitas. The ensemble supports with precision and pizazz, not volume. This is not scream-and-sweat horror. It is controlled, layered acting with purpose.
Below the line, the case deepens:
Editing with rhythm.
Sound that fills.
A score that stakes emotional ground.
Cinematography that isn’t just beautiful – it’s pioneering.
Sinners doesn’t need to redefine horror.
It just needs to walk into nomination morning with double-digit recognition.
Where Sinners Stands – Predictions
Locked
• Picture • Director • Actor (Michael B. Jordan)
• Original Screenplay • Casting • Cinematography
• Film Editing • Score • Sound
• Original Song: “Last Time (I Seen the Sun)
Contenders
• Production Design • Costume Design • Makeup & Hairstyling
On the Bubble
• Original Song — “I Lied to You” (#7 — possible, not predicting)
Long shots
• Supporting Actor — Delroy Lindo
Back in April, I had Sinners pegged for nine nominations. I missed Casting – new category, ADHD moment – won’t happen again. I also had Hailee Steinfeld’s “Dangerous” slotted for Original Song. It was written for the film and is a hit on the soundtrack. However, because it barely appears in the movie, it isn’t eligible under Academy rules. No conspiracy, no drama – just the rulebook. I still have Sinners getting a song nomination, now the one carrying the torch is “The Last Time (I Seen the Sun)”.
Sinners didn’t survive the season because of hype.
It survived because the work refused to fade.
Conclusion
Everyone is talking nominations.
Nobody is talking legacy.
January 22 isn’t just another Thursday.
It could be coronation day; the moment Sinners leads the field and becomes the new statistic. I’m predicting it hits thirteen nominations, more than One Battle After Another, and more than anything else this year.
But stats don’t dethrone legends.
Sinners may become the modern king of Oscar horror.
The Exorcist will always remain the true horror king.
And those are not the same crown.
If you’re tracking the season the way we are, keep an eye on our Awards Season Tracker. The season has just begun.
