‘Sinners’ leads movie nominations for NAACP Image Awards

Ryan Coogler’s pulsating supernatural thriller “Sinners” leads the movie categories in nominations for the NAACP Image Awards, announced Monday.

“Sinners,” in which Michael B. Jordan pulls double duty as twins, received 18 nominations, followed by Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” which got nine. In television, “Bel-Air” leads with seven nods.

Jordan is also one of the five luminaries vying for the NAACP’s Entertainer of the Year award. He joins Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, Kendrick Lamar and Teyana Taylor. Last year’s winner was Keke Palmer.

As for Taylor, who stars in “One Battle After Another,” she received the most individual nods with six across multiple categories, including movies, music and TV. In music, Lamar led the group with six nods.

“The NAACP Image Awards is our declaration to our community that ‘We See You,’ affirming Black creativity, excellence, and humanity across every space where our stories are told,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, in a statement.

“From film, television, and music to literature and beyond, the voices of all of our nominees tell stories that honor our past, celebrate our identity, and remind us that storytelling has the power to move culture forward.”

For this year’s awards, the NAACP introduced two new categories: outstanding literary work — journalism and outstanding editing in a motion picture or television series, movie, or special. The journalism category honors excellence in nationally distributed journalism impacting the Black community, while the editing category recognizes post-production editing that enhances various aspects of a project’s storytelling.

The 57th NAACP Image Awards will be handed out Feb. 28 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and televised on BET.

The public can vote in select categories at https://naacpimageawards.net/. Voting in those categories closes on Feb. 7.