Following the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America revealed 10 films, instead of the usual five, when it announced its nominees for its top movie award on Tuesday.
“Avatar” led the group, listed alphabetically, for the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures, followed by, “District 9,” “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Invictus,” “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire,” “Star Trek,” “Up,” and “Up in the Air.”
The PGA decision to open up the list of nominees to a wider field benefited sci-fi films, three of which were nominated: the blockbuster “Avatar,” the gritty indie “District 9,” and the summer hit “Star Trek,” which rebooted the old franchise.
Movies that failed to make the list include female-oriented, well-acted fare, such as Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia,” Nanvy Meyers’ “It’s Complicated,” Rob Marshall’s musical “Nine,” and indie-specialty fare like the Coens’ “A Serious Man,” “A Single Man” and “Crazy Heart.”
Pixar/Disney’s “Up” became the first animated film to score a PGA nomination. It also picked up a nomination for the PGA’s animated film award, a category first introduced in 2005. Its competition in that race consists of “9,” “Coraline,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “The Princess and the Frog.”
For documentary film, the nominees are “Burma VJ,” “The Cove,” “Sergio” and “Soundtrack for a Revolution.”
Nominations for television, which encompasses both TV movies and mini-series, for the David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award are: “Georgia O’Keefe,” “Grey Gardens,” “Little Dorrit,” “Prayers for Bobby,” “The Prisoner” and “Taking Chance.”
The awards will be presented January 24 at the Hollywood Palladium. The PGA nominations are watched carefully as harbingers of the eventual Oscar nominationss for best picture, which will be announced February 2.
