The 44th Saturn Awards, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other genres belonging to genre fiction in film, television, home media releases, and local theatre productions from February 2017 to February 2018, were held on June 27, 2018, in Burbank, California. Nominations were announced on March 15, 2018. Jonah Ray hosted the event.
Black Panther led the nominations for film with fourteen, becoming the third most nominated film in the awards' history behind Star Wars (1977) with seventeen and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) with fifteen, as the film scored nominations in every eligible category (2019's Avengers: Endgame would also receive fourteen nominations the following year, sharing Black Panther's record as the third/fourth most nominated film in the awards' history); it was followed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi with thirteen, and Blade Runner 2049 and The Shape of Water with nine each. The Walking Dead led the nominations for television the fourth year in a row with seven, followed by newcomer Star Trek: Discovery with five. Seven individuals earned two nominations each, including two writing nominations for Michael Green, and nominations for both film and television for actress Danai Gurira.
For film, Black Panther won the most awards with five, including Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release and Best Director (Ryan Coogler), followed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi with three and Coco with two. For television, Better Call Saul and Twin Peaks: The Return won the most awards with three each (ending The Walking Dead's four-year long streak as the top-winning series), followed by Star Trek: Discovery and The Walking Dead with two each.
Notable wins include Mark Hamill's record-tying third Best Actor win for Star Wars: The Last Jedi (34 years after his second win for 1983's Return of the Jedi), making him the first person to have won three Saturn Awards for the same role in film (Robert Downey Jr. would tie this record the following year for Avengers: Endgame), and Tom Holland's second consecutive win for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Spider-Man: Homecoming, making him the first person to win the award twice for the same role, or to win it in two consecutive years (Holland would go on to win a third the following year for 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, beating his own record).