The days of HBO dominating the Best Movie Emmy race appear to be behind us.
The premium network has won a leading 22 Emmys in this category, including four in a row between 2012 and 2015 (Game Change, Behind the Candelabra, The Normal Heart, and Bessie). But since Netflix emerged as a major awards player about a decade ago, it has won Best Movie five times: Black Mirror: San Junipero (2017), Black Mirror: USS Callister (2018), Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2019), Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (2021), and Rebel Ridge (2025). HBO only mustered a single victory for Bad Education (2020) in that same 10-year time period.
Netflix on Sunday claimed a sixth victory thanks to Remarkably Bright Creatures, starring Sally Field as a widow who forms an unlikely friendship with an octopus.
The telefilm came into the ceremony with a 100% chance of winning Best Movie, per Gold Derby’s experts and a 99% chance based on all Gold Derby users. The other four Best Movie nominees are Miss You, Love You from HBO, People We Meet on Vacation from Netflix, and both Heads of State and Jack Ryan: Ghost War from Prime Video.
Expert predictions
Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2026
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Remarkably Bright Creatures
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People We Meet on Vacation
User predictions
Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2026
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Remarkably Bright Creatures
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5.
People We Meet on Vacation
Miss You, Love You finished second in the combined Gold Derby odds. HBO debuted that Allison Janney-Andrew Rannells two-hander in the last weekend of May, a familiar time slot as that’s when HBO often rolls out its major TV movie awards player — think Behind the Candelabra and The Normal Heart.
However, in recent years, that same late-May strategy hasn’t proven as fruitful for HBO.
Both 2024’s The Great Lillian Hall and 2023’s Reality were snubbed entirely, while four others lost their contests to Netflix contenders that premiered earlier in the television season: 2025’s Mountainhead (to Rebel Ridge), 2021’s Oslo (to Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square), 2019’s Deadwood: The Movie (to Black Mirror: Bandersnatch), and 2018’s The Tale (to Black Mirror: USS Callister).
Because the Emmy eligibility period ends on May 31, perhaps debuting at the last minute is not as strategic as it once was. Television Academy members seem to be watching fewer and fewer shows, so getting on their radar early appears to be a key part of Netflix’s strategy. Remarkably Bright Creatures premiered on May 8, more than three weeks before the Emmy cutoff.
Primetime Emmy Awards 2026
Another point in Remarkably Bright Creatures‘ favor was Field, who was nominated for Best Limited Series/Movie Actress. Field is a two-time Oscar winner for Norma Rae (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984) and a three-time Emmy champion for Sybil (1977), ER (2001), and Brothers & Sisters (2007). She’s the only performer nominated this year from a TV movie, suggesting voters like her, really like her.
Gold Derby’s Emmy experts give Field a 10% chance of winning, putting her in a three-way tie for second place with Sarah Snook (All Her Fault) and Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story); Carey Mulligan (Beef) leads the category with 70%. Notably, Field would be the first lead actress from a TV movie to prevail since Julianne Moore won for portraying Sarah Palin in Game Change 14 years ago.
The acting category will be announced at the Primetime ceremony on Sept. 14.
In March, the Television Academy announced that the Best Television Movie category would be retitled Best Movie to “more accurately reflect the evolving landscape of cinematic content created for broadcast or streaming.” The rebranding offers a chance for a reset as the streaming era has changed the definition of what defines a made-for-television film.
An earlier version of this story was published on Aug. 24.
