Sony’s Facebook drama emerged as the big winner at the 68th Golden Globes as it converted six nominations into four wins for dramatic picture, director, screenwriter and score.

By contrast The King’s Speech, released in North America through The Weinstein Company and sold overseas by FilmNation, began the night as the frontrunner on seven nominations and left the Beverly Hilton with a single trophy from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

That said, Colin Firth’s triumph in the best dramatic actor category would appear to make him a favourite to win the Academy Award. Similarly Natalie Portman must now be the one to beat in the lead actress Oscar race after she took home the dramatic actress Globe for Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan.

Annette Bening won for comedy or musical actress for Focus Features’ The Kids Are All Right and remains a strong threat for the Oscar. Paul Giamatti won the corresponding actor honour for SPC’s Barney’s Version. The supporting acting trophies secured a double win for Relativity Media’s The Fighter - released in North America through Paramount - as Christian Bale and Melissa Leo took to the stage, cementing their status as favourites for the Academy Award. Many expect Geoffrey Rush from The King’s Speech to push Bale every step of the way.

David Fincher won best director and is widely regarded as the frontrunner for the Oscar. His Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s victory in the screenplay category makes Sorkin a favourite too. Sorkin ousted David Seidler for The King’s Speech but both men could walk off with statuettes on Oscar night as they will contest separate original and adapted screenplay categories.

Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 claimed the animated crown in one of the most unsurprising results of the night. The HFPA named Susanne Bier’s In A Better World best foreign film and gave SPC its second win of the night. The Danish drama is expected to be among the Oscar nominees when they are announced on January 25.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won best score for The Social Network, while Diane Warren’s victory for best song in Sony/Screen Gems’ Burlesque allowed her to pay tribute to the late publicist Ronni Chasen.

Best Picture, Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
*The Social Network

Best Picture, Comedy or Musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
*The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
*David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Best Screenplay
*Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours

Best Actor, Drama
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
*Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Best Actor, Comedy or Musical
Johnny Depp, Alice In Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
*Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love & Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Best Actress, Drama
Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
*Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical
*Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Emma Stone, Easy A
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are AllRight

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
*Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor
*Christian Bale, The Fighter
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Best Animated Film
Tangled
*Toy Story 3
How To Train Your Dragon
Despicable Me
The Illusionist

Best Foreign-Language Film
I Am Love (Italy)
Biutiful
(Mexico-Spain)
The Concert (France)
The Edge
(Russia)
*In A Better World (Denmark)

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The King’s Speech
Danny Elfman, Alice In Wonderland
AR Rahman, 127 Hours
*Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Hans Zimmer, Inception

Best Original Song
*“You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me,” Burlesque
“Bound to you,” Burlesque
“Coming Home”, Country Strong
“I See The Light,” Tangled
“There’s a Place For Us,” Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Best Television Series - Drama
*Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Julianna Marguiles - The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
Piper Perabo - Covert Affairs
*Katey Segal - Sons Of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series - Drama
*Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Michael C Hall - Dexter
John Hamm - Mad Men
Hugh Laurie - House

Best Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
*Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
Toni Collette - United States Of Tara
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
*Laura Linney - The Big C
Lea Michele - Glee

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
Toni Collette - United States Of Tara
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
*Laura Linney - The Big C
Lea Michele - Glee

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
Steve Carell – The Office
Thomas Jane – Hung
Matthew Morrison – Glee
*Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television
*Carlos
The Pacific
Pillars of The Earth
Temple Grandin
You Don’t Know Jack

Best Performance By An Actress In A Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television
Hayley Atwel - Pillars of The Earth
*
Claire Danes – Temple Grandin
Judi Dench – Return To Cranford
Romola Garai – Emma
Jennifer Love Hewitt – The Client List

Best Performance By An Actor In A Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television
Idris Elba – Luther
Ian McShane – Pillars Of The Earth
*Al Pacino – You Don’t Know Jack
Dennis Quaid – The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez - Carlos

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supprting Role In A Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television
Hope Davis – The Special Relationship
*Jane Lynch – Glee
Kelly MacDonald – Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles – Dexter
Sofia Vergara – Modern Family

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supprting Role In A Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television
Scott Caan – Hawaii Five-O
*Chris Colfer – Glee
Chris Noth – The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family
David Strathairn – Temple Grandin