Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s critically and commercially acclaimed supernatural thriller, has become the first film to be nominated for 16 Academy Awards.

The film starring Michael B Jordan as twin brothers setting up a blues club in 1930s Mississippi while battling racism and vampires has so far taken $368m worldwide. It is nominated for trophies including best picture, director, leading actor, supporting actor (for the British actor Delroy Lindo), supporting actress (for British-Nigerian actor Wunmi Mosaku) and the Academy’s inaugural casting prize.

The film’s nod for costume design also makes Ruth E Carter – now nominated five times overall – the most-nominated Black woman throughout the Oscars’ 97-year history. Meanwhile Sinners’ cinematography nomination for Autumn Durald Arkapaw marks only the fourth time a woman has ever been up for the award.

Speaking to Deadline, Coogler said he was surprised to find multiple family members on his Los Angeles doorstep soon after 5am, in anticipation of the announcement. “My dad was keeping count next to me,” he said. “And when he said [it was 16], I was like, ‘Dad, you got it wrong. There’s no way it’s that many.’”

Since news stories appeared verifying the number, said Coogler, his father “has been gleefully pointing out how right he was: ‘So you trust the articles, you don’t trust my counting?’”

Sinners’ multiple nods mean it smashes the record of 14 nominations shared by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016). But while those films converted their nominations into a substantial number of wins (six, 11 and six, respectively), the expectation is that Coogler’s drama may end up with a smaller haul come 15 March.

So far this season, ramshackle countercultural comedy One Battle After Another has dominated in the awards, and at the Oscars it closely trails Sinners, with 13 nominations.

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, a veteran Oscars bridesmaid with 11 prior nominations but no wins, is widely predicted to scoop both best picture and best director, with supporting actress Teyana Taylor also tipped to win in her category. Three of the film’s other stars were also nominated – Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro – although Chase Infiniti was a surprise omission from the leading actress shortlist, while Song Sung Blue’s Kate Hudson did make the cut.

Meanwhile Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet also performed well, with eight nominations, including for Jessie Buckley – the easy frontrunner in the best actress category – although Paul Mescal was a surprise snub in the supporting actor category.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter after the announcement, Buckley said she was disappointed her co-star had not been nominated along with her. “I think he’s extraordinary in this film,” she said. “I know I’ve met a partner for life in doing this with him … There’s no part of what I created or what we created in this story which exists without Paul and what he poured into this story.”