Jason Bateman is gaining ground in two Emmy categories as the 2026 race takes shape, with prediction data this week showing him moving up for Netflix's noir thriller Black Rabbit and HBO's dark comedy DTF St. Louis. The actor-director is now in position for as many as five nominations across the two projects alone.
In the latest Gold Derby prediction data, Bateman is up 4% in the lead race for Black Rabbit and up 11% in supporting for DTF St. Louis. That puts him in the mix both as a performer and behind the camera, since he is also eligible for directing on Black Rabbit and producing on both limited series.
The numbers matter because Bateman is not starting from scratch in Emmy conversations. He won his first Emmy Award in 2019 for directing an episode of Ozark, and he now has 13 additional nominations to his name, including acting bids for Arrested Development, Ozark and The Outsider. The latest forecasts suggest he is again making a run across multiple branches at once.
For Black Rabbit, Bateman is just outside the projected Best Movie or Limited Actor lineup with a 70% chance of landing a nomination. He plays Vince Friedken, the older brother of Jake, played by Jude Law, and the co-founder of the titular New York City hotspot. In DTF St. Louis, he is in seventh place in Best Movie or Limited Supporting Actor with a 58% shot at a bid for playing weatherman Clark Forrest, whose storyline turns into a deadly love triangle with Carol, played by Linda Cardellini, and Floyd, played by David Harbour.
The comparison with the category front-runners shows how close the race is but also how much work remains. Bateman's numbers are strong enough to keep him in contention across acting, directing and producing, yet he is still trailing the leading names in both actor fields. That makes July 8, when the 2026 Emmy nominations are announced, the next date that will tell whether this broad push turns into a rare multi-category haul.
If the forecasts hold, Bateman could be one of this year's most versatile Emmy contenders, with his path running through two projects and three branches of the Television Academy at once.
