The Producer's Guild of America has announced their award nominations this year, and the group - which has a long history as an Oscar predictor - has made some surprising choices, nominating sci-fi films including Star Trek, Avatar and District 9 as well as the animated Up.
In the slightly-more-predictable group we get The Hurt Locker, Up In The Air and Invictus, along with Quentin Tarantino's surprisingly award-friendly **Inglourious Basterds **(guess that's the closest they could find to a Holocaust drama this year). Filling out the list are smaller releases An Education and Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire.
In an Oscar season light on the usual Holocaust dramas and historical epics, the field's been left wide open for films that people actually, y'know, went to see this year, which we're guessing is why several superior sci-fi films sneaked their way onto the list. That, and the fact that the PGA, like the Oscars, has upped the list of nominees to ten.
It's also good to see Blighty's own An Education nominated for something other than lead actress Carey Mulligan, and to see Up break out of the animation ghetto and onto the main list.
The Producer's Guild Awards used to be a very good indicator of the eventual Best Picture winner at the Oscars, but in recent years the two have diverged more and more. Still, Oscar pundits will be watching the awards, on January 24, with a keen eye to see if they can pick up any Oscar trends (those nominations will be announced on February 2, with the ceremony following on March 7). The full list of nominees, including those for the documentary, animation and long-form TV show, follows.
DARRYL F. ZANUCK PRODUCER OF THE YEAR AWARD IN THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES:
**Avatar
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air**
PGA PRODUCER OF THE YEAR AWARD IN ANIMATED THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES:
**9
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up**
PGA PRODUCER OF THE YEAR AWARD IN DOCUMENTARY THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES:
**Burma VJ
The Cove
Sergio
Soundtrack for a Revolution
**
DAVID L. WOLPER PRODUCER OF THE YEAR AWARD IN LONG-FORM TELEVISION:
Georgia O'Keeffe
Grey Gardens
Little Dorrit
Prayers for Bobby
The Prisoner
Taking Chance