Colman Domingo, currently tipped for an Oscar nomination for his role in the billion-dollar Michael Jackson biopic "Michael," is best known to awards voters for an earlier, very different film: "Sing Sing," which is due to leave HBO Max in the United States in September 2026. The 2024 drama, likened to a blend of "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Dead Poets Society," was the feature directorial debut of Greg Kwedar and earned Domingo his most recent Oscar nomination, despite a much lower profile than his current awards contender.

"Sing Sing" was co-written by Kwedar and Clint Bentley, the pair behind the acclaimed Netflix film "Train Dreams," which Bentley directed and which stars Joel Edgerton. "Train Dreams" holds a 93% "Certified Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes and received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, marking the second consecutive year the writing duo secured an Oscar nomination following "Sing Sing" in 2024.