The King's Speech has taken an early lead for Oscar glory, earning 12 Academy Award nominations in an announcement made this morning by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Oscar winner Mo'Nique.
After being almost shut out entirely of the Golden Globes, where it only bagged a single award, Tom Hooper's historical drama on a stammering King earned nods for best film, director, and screenplay, in addition to acting nominations for Colin Firth (pictured), Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.
Close behind with 10 nominations is the Coen Brother's remake of the 1969 western, True Grit. Jeff Bridges' reprise of the Oscar-winning role played by the late great John Wayne received a nomination, as did 14-year-old star Hailee Steinfeld, who was recognised in the best supporting actress category for her very first film appearance.
David Fincher's adaptation of the contentious creation of Facebook, The Social Network, gained eight nominations, as did Christopher Nolan's Inception. Nolan scored a nod for best screenplay but was a surprise omission in the best director category.
On the local front, legendary Australian actress Jacki Weaver landed a best supporting nomination for her chilling portrayal of a criminal matriarch in David Michôd's Animal Kingdom. Weaver has reaped praise from numerous festivals and awards shows from around the world, and the AFI winner's nomination was considered to be one of few guaranteed locks this year. Nicole Kidman is up for best actress for her performance in John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole. Kidman plays a mother in mourning over the death of her young child. And artist Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing (Dirs. Shaun Tan, Andrew Ruhemann) scored a nomination in the best animation category. The first film from the highly successful children's book author previously won prizes at the AFI Awards, IF Awards and Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals, respectively.
The ceremony for the 83rd Academy Awards will take place on February 27, 2011.
Full list of nominees below:
Best Picture
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
Directing
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit
Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, Winter's Bone
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Keith Dorrington, Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, and Paul Tamasy, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler, The King's Speech
Animated Feature Film
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
Art Direction
Robert Stromberg and Karen O'Hara, Alice In Wonderland
Stuart Craig and Stephenie McMillan, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, and Doug Mowat, Inception
Eve Stewart and Judy Farr, The King's Speech
Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh, True Grit
Cinematography
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Wally Pfister, Inception
Danny Cohen, The King's Speech
Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network
Roger Deakins, True Grit
Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, Alice in Wonderland
Antonella Cannarozzi, I Am Love
Jenny Beavan, The King's Speech
Sandy Powell, The Tempest
Mary Zophres, True Grit
Film Editing
Jon Harris, 127 Hours
Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan
Pamela Martin, The Fighter
Tariq Anwar, The King's Speech
Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter, The Social Network
Makeup
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, and Yolanda Toussieng, The Way Back
Adrien Morot, Barney's Version
Rick Baker and Dave Elsey, The Wolfman
Sound Editing
Richard King, Inception
Tom Myers and Michael Silvers, Toy Story 3
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague, TRON: Legacy
Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey, True Grit
Mark P. Stoeckinger, Unstoppable
Sound Mixing
Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick, Inception
Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen, and John Midgley, The King's Speech
Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan, and William Sarokin, Salt
Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, and Mark Weingarten, The Social Network
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, and Peter F. Kurland, True Grit
Visual Effects
Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas, and Sean Phillips, Alice In Wonderland
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz, and Nicolas Aithadi, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephen Trojanski, and Joe Farrell, Hereafter
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb, Inception
Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Jed Wright, and Daniel Sudick, Iron Man 2
Music (Original Score)
A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours
John Powell, How To Train Your Dragon
Hans Zimmer, Inception
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Music (Original Song)
'If I Rise' from 127 Hours, by A.R. Rahman, Dido, and Rollo Armstrong
'Coming Home' from Country Strong, by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges, and Hillary Lindsey
'I See The Light' from Tangled, by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater
'We Belong Together' from Toy Story 3, by Randy Newman
Foreign Language Film
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) (Algeria)
Documentary (Feature)
Waste Land
Documentary (Short Subject)
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang
Short Film (Animated)
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)
Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession
The Crush
God Of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143
