‘The Revenant,’ ‘The Big Short,’ ‘Spotlight’ Nominated by Directors Guild

The DGA Awards, which are a good Oscar predictor, also singled out “Mad Max” and “The Martian”

Alejandro G. Inarritu, Ridley Scott and Adam McKay
Alejandro Inarritu, "The Revenant"; Ridley Scott, "The Martian": Adam McKay, "The Big Short"

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Ridley Scott, Tom McCarthy, George Miller and Adam McKay  have been nominated by the Directors Guild of America as the best film directors of 2015, the DGA announced on Wednesday.

Iñárritu was nominated for “The Revenant,” Scott for “The Martian,” McCarthy for “Spotlight,” Miller for “Mad Max: Fury Road” and McKay for “The Big Short.”

Left off the list were Todd Haynes for “Carol” and Steven Spielberg for “Bridge of Spies,” among others.

The DGA also announced five nominees for a new category, Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director, for 2015. Those nominees were Alex Garland for “Ex Machina,” Laszlo Nemes for “Son of Saul,” Joel Edgerton for “The Gift,” Marielle Heller for “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” and Fernando Coimbra for “A Wolf at the Door.”

Iñárritu and Scott have each been nominated three previous times by the DGA, with Iñárritu winning last year for “Birdman.” McCarthy, Miller and McKay are first-time nominees.

The nominations mean that “Spotlight” and “The Big Short” are the only two films to be nominated for the top awards by all four of the major Hollywood guilds: the Directors Guild, Producers Guild, Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild.

“The Martian” and “Straight Outta Compton” have been nominated by three of the guilds, while “The Revenant,” “Mad Max,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Sicario” and “Trumbo” have been nominated by two.

Most years, four of the five DGA nominees go on to receive Oscar nominations. Since 2000, all five nominees have matched only twice, while three of the five matched twice and only two of the five matched after a bizarre vote by the Academy’s Directors Branch in 2012.

When it comes to predicting Oscar winners, the DGA is among the most reliable of the Hollywood guilds. In the 67 years of the DGA Awards, its winner has also won the Oscar for Best Director 60 times. The winning director’s film has won the Best Picture Oscar 52 times.

DGA television, commercial and documentary nominations will be announced on Jan. 13.

The 68th annual DGA Awards will take place on Feb. 6 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

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