Directors Guild nominates Anderson, Coogler, del Toro, Safdie and Zhao for its top prize

Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Guillermo del Toro, Chloé Zhao and Josh Safdie have been nominated for the Directors Guild’s top prize. The organization announced feature film and first-time director nominees Thursday for the 78th annual Directors Guild Awards.

The five films singled out for the top prize, “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet” and “Marty Supreme,” exactly mirrored Wednesday's ensemble Actor Award nominees, further narrowing the field of this season’s top contenders days before the Golden Globe Awards.

Directors Guild nominees often closely align with those of the Academy Awards. Over the past two decades, the winner of the DGA award has almost always also triumphed at the Oscars, including last year when Sean Baker won for “Anora.” Oscar nominations are still a few weeks away, however, set for Jan. 22.

Both Zhao and del Toro have won the award before, for “Nomadland” and “The Shape of Water.” It’s the first time Safdie and Coogler have been nominated for the prize. Although Anderson, previously nominated for “There Will Be Blood” and “Licorice Pizza,” is seemingly the front-runner, if Coogler wins it would be a first for a Black filmmaker.

Directors nominated for first features include Eva Victor for “Sorry, Baby,”Alex Russell for “Lurker,” Charlie Pollinger for “The Plague,” Harry Lighton for “Pillion” and Hasan Hadi for “The President’s Cake.”

On Wednesday, the guild also announced documentary filmmaker nominations, including Mstyslav Chernov for “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a co-production between The Associated Press and PBS Frontline, Geeta Gandbhir for “The Perfect Neighbor,” Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni for “Cutting Through the Rocks,” Elizabeth Lo for “Mistress Dispeller” and Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus for “Cover-Up.”

DGA President Christopher Nolan congratulated the nominees on behalf of the guild community and, in a statement, said, “We could not be prouder to recognize the incredible work of this year’s nominees for their dedication to the art of filmmaking.”

The winners will be announced at an untelevised ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.

Chloe Zhao arrives at the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, at The Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

CORRECTS SPELLING OF PERSON SHOWN - Oscar Isaac, from left, Guillermo del Toro, and Jacob Elordi walk onstage during the 37th Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Ryan Coogler arrives at the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, at The Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Josh Safdie attends the New York Film Critics Circle Awards at Tao Downtown on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in New York. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP)

Paul Thomas Anderson accepts the award for best director for "One Battle After Another" during the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, at The Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes had two goals and three assists and Dawson Mercer scored twice as the New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals 7-3 on Thursday night.

Hughes scored his first goal for the Devils 9:10 into the second period on a wrist shot, assisted by Jesper Bratt and Johnathan Kovacevic. He tacked on a wrist shot 8:10 into the third, assisted by Bratt and Connor Brown. Hughes has 24 goals and 44 assists this season.

Bratt, Dougie Hamilton and Cody Glass also scored for the Devils.

Tom Wilson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cole Hutson scored for the Capitals.

Jake Allen made 29 saves in the win for the Devils. Logan Thompson had 23 saves for the Capitals.

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Capitals: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes skates agains the Dallas Stars during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)