Oscar frontrunners “Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Up in the Air,” “Precious” and “Inglourious Basterds” are among the 10 nominees for the Producers Guild of America’s top film honor, the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award.
Other nominees for the award include “An Education,” “Invictus,” “Up,” and, in something of a surprise, two popular science-fiction films, ”District 9” and “Star Trek.”
Along with “Avatar,” the last two nominations gave an unmistakable sci-fi tint to the lineup, which also overlooked Rob Marshall’s star-studded musical “Nine,” one of the biggest disappointments of awards season, but did recognize Shane Acker’s sci-fi tale “9” in the Animated Motion Picture category.
The PGA also passed over the Coen Brothers’ dark comedy “A Serious Man,” the Sandra Bullock hit “The Blind Side,” and some smaller films that have acquired awards buzz, including “The Messenger” and “The Last Station.”
The Pixar film “Up” appeared in both the Theatrical Motion Picture and Animated Motion Picture categories.
Only four films were nominated for the PGA’s documentary award: “Burma VJ,” “The Cove,” “Sergio” and “Soundtrack for a Revolution.” Among the films passed over in the category are “Food, Inc.,” “Anvil,” “Tyson” and Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story.”
The 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony will be the first after the organization expanded its de facto Best Picture slate to 10 films, a move that followed a similar decision by the Academy. In the years in which the PGA nominated five feature films, its nominees usually correlated closely with the Academy Awards best-picture slate.
The PGA Awards will take place on Sunday, January 24 at the Hollywood Palladium.
The nominees:
Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures
AVATAR
Producers: James Cameron, Jon Landau
DISTRICT 9
Producers: Carolynne Cunningham, Peter Jackson
AN EDUCATION
Producers: Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey
THE HURT LOCKER
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Producer: Lawrence Bender
INVICTUS
Producers: Clint Eastwood, Rob Lorenz, Lori McCreary , Mace Neufeld
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness
STAR TREK
Producers: J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof
UP
Producer: Jonas Rivera
UP IN THE AIR
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
PGA Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
9
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
CORALINE
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
Producer: Peter Del Vecho
UP
Producer: Jonas Rivera
PGA Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
BURMA VJ
Producer: Lise Lense-Moller
THE COVE
Producers: Paula DuPre Pesman, Fisher Stevens
SERGIO
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television*:
GEORGIA O'KEEFFE
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
GREY GARDENS
Producers: David Coatsworth, Lucy Donnelly, Rachael Horovitz, Michael Sucsy|LITTLE DORRIT
LITTLE DORRIT
Producers: Lisa Osborne, Anne Pivcevic
PRAYERS FOR BOBBY
Producers: Stanley M. Brooks, Damian Ganczewski, David Permut, Daniel Sladek, Chris Taaffe
THE PRISONER
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
TAKING CHANCE
Producers: Lori Keith Douglas, Ross Katz, Brad Krevoy, Cathy Wischner-Sola
*Special note: The Long-Form Television category encompasses both movies of the week and mini series. The eligibility period for this category was January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.