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Avatar and two other sci-fi films nominated for PGAs
In a break with tradition, three of the shortlisted films are set in the future
The Oscars race is hotting up after the Producer's Guild of America (PGA) unveiled its nominations for its own awards in Los Angeles today. Chosen by more than 4,200 Hollywood producers, the PGA awards are traditionally a key influence in determining the top contenders for the Academy Awards.
In its 20-year history, the PGA has picked 13 of the films which then went on to win the Oscar for best picture, including Slumdog Millionaire last year and the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men in 2008.
However, the Coens have been snubbed this year, with A Serious Man failing to earn a best picture nod. Instead, the big surprise is that a trio of sci-fi movies are among the 10 nominated - James Cameron's Avatar, the Peter Jackson-produced District 9 and Star Trek. Like other awards, the PGAs normally spurn science fiction.
Also nominated are The Hurt Locker, Precious and George Clooney's Up in the Air, the latter already an Oscar favourite because of its nominations for Golden Globes. Making up the ten chosen films are the animated Up, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, the British period film An Education starring Carey Mulligan and Clint Eastwood's Invictus about the end of the apartheid era in South Africa.
The winner will be announced at the Hollywood Palladium on January 24. ·
