Netflix leads this year's Oscar nominations, but likely will lose best picture - again

• Netflix landed 35 Oscar nominations on Monday, including 10 for "Mank" - the most of any studio.
• Netflix has been adding to its total Oscar nominations every year since 2016 and led last year, too.
• But it has yet to snag a best-picture win and that likely won't change this year.
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"Netflix leads this year's Oscar nominations" is starting to become a familiar sentence.

The streaming giant dominated for the second year in a row when nominations were announced on Monday. Netflix nabbed 35 nominations, the most of any studio, after it garnered 24 last year.

This year, Netflix's "Mank" led the way with 10 nominations, followed by other best-picture nominees like "Nomadland," "Judas and the Black Messiah," and fellow Netflix film "Trial of the Chicago 7" with six each.

Netflix has been adding to its haul of nominations every year since 2016. The streamer finally broke through in the best-picture race with "Roma" in 2019, when Netflix landed 15 nominations.

But a best-picture win has eluded Netflix.

"Roma," which had the most nominations of any movie that year and won best director, lost the top award to "Green Book." Last year, Netflix's "The Irishman" got 10 nominations, second to "Joker's" 11 nods, but lost best picture to "Parasite."

That pattern likely won't change this year, even though Hollywood embraced streaming more than ever before during the pandemic (Amazon received 12 nominations, and Disney Plus and Apple landed their first nods, as well).

Though Netflix movies "Mank" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7" are competing for best picture, neither is the favorite to win among awards analysts and film critics; that honor goes to Searchlight's "Nomadland." For instance, The Hollywood Reporter's awards expert, Scott Feinberg, has the movie leading the pack and it's the favorite to win at the awards-predictions website Gold Derby. If it wins, it would be Disney's first best-picture win, as it acquired Searchlight in its Fox merger.

Other Netflix best-picture hopefuls like "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and "Da 5 Bloods" were left out of the category entirely.

A similar scenario has played out at the Emmys, as Netflix has surpassed HBO for most nominations in two of the last three years, but has yet to land a win in the major categories of best drama series, comedy series, or limited series (though, with momentum building for "The Crown" season four and its limited series "The Queen's Gambit," that could change this year).

But while the Oscars' biggest prize looks doubtful for Netflix, the streamer is still expected to land major wins. And its positive trajectory over the last few years is promising for its chances in the years to come.

The Oscars, and Hollywood, have opened up to streaming overall, too.

Media companies like Disney and WarnerMedia have reorganized around their streaming businesses amid the pandemic and trends we're seeing today will likely continue in some form even after it's over. The Oscars will have to continue to embrace the streaming space as Hollywood evolves.