A gothic vampire horror film has set a record for Oscar nominations, stomping into the Academy Awards with 16 nods.

Sinners, set in the era of US segregation, is the frontrunner heading into the glittering Hollywood event on March 15.

The thriller, starring Michael B Jordan, will face off against contenders including One Battle After Another, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme and others for the coveted best picture prize.

Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were officially announced overnight Thursday (AEDT).

The previous record for most nominations in a single year was 14, a mark hit by All About ‌Eve, Titanic and La La ​Land.

Bugonia, F1, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams also were nominated for this ‍year’s best picture trophy.

Australians Rose Byrne and Jacob Elordi have been nominated for their first Oscars.

Byrne is up for best actress in a leading role for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – for which she recently won a Golden Globe – and Elordi was nominated in the best supporting actor category for Frankenstein.

Jordan was nominated for best actor for his dual role in Sinners as twin brothers who set up a juke joint in 1930s Mississippi.

Other nominations for the Warner Bros film include best director for Ryan Coogler, supporting actor for Delroy Lindo, supporting actress ​for Wunmi Mosaku and best cinematography, costume design, ‌original screenplay and visual effects.

Jordan’s competition includes Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another, which scored 13 nominations, and ​Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme.

For best actress, Jessie Buckley was nominated for Hamnet and Kate Hudson for Song ‍Sung Blue.

Winners of the gold Oscar statuettes will be chosen by the roughly 10,000 actors, producers, directors and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of ​Motion ​Picture Arts and Sciences.

Walt Disney’s ​ABC will broadcast the awards, and comedian Conan ​O’Brien will host for the second straight year.

Warner Bros Discovery, the studio subject to a bidding war between Netflix and Paramount Skydance, led all studios with 30 nominations.

Netflix has never won best picture, despite nominations for such films as Roma, Emilia Perez and The Irishman.

It has a chance this year with Frankenstein, which earned nine nominations.

The streaming service releases its movies in theatres for a limited time to qualify them for awards consideration.

-with AAP