New Line's The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King has emerged as the frontrunner for Academy Award glory with 11 nominations including best picture and a second best director nod for Peter Jackson following The Fellowship Of The Ring in 2002.
Twentieth Century Fox's naval adventure Master And Commander followed close behind on 10 including a fourth best director nod for Peter Weir.
Interestingly neither film earned a single nomination in the acting categories when Academy President Frank Pierson and Sigourney Weaver announced the nominees for the 76th Annual Academy Awards to take place on Feb 29.
In other highlights, Miramax's Cold Mountain missed out on best picture, director and adapted screenplay nominations but picked up seven including Jude Law for best actor and Renee Zellweger for best supporting actress. Universal/Dreamworks/Spyglass' Seabiscuit showed the Academy's traditionalist sensibilities with seven nods including best picture. Sofia Coppola became the first American woman to be nominated for best director for Focus Features' Lost In Translation, which picked up four nominations including best actor for Bill Murray and two more for Coppola for screenplay and as producer for best picture.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros' Mystic River, which earned six heavyweight nods today, completed the line-up of best picture nominees alongside Return Of The King, Master And Commander, Seabiscuit and Lost In Translation.
Keisha Castle-Hughes becomes the youngest ever best actress nominee at 13 for Newmarket's Whale Rider, Sony's Big Fish only got a single nod for original score, Miramax's Kill Bill Vol 1 failed to collect a single nomination and Warner Bros' The Last Samurai only collected four, the most prominent of which was Ken Watanabe for best supporting actor.
While Kill Bill Vol 1 was a notable absentee, Miramax will take consolation from the fact that it also earned four nominations for City Of God including best director for Fernando Meirelles, two for Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions and one apiece for Dirty Pretty Things (screenplay) and foreign language nominee Twin Sisters. The company was also a co-producer on Master And Commander and both Harvey and Bob Weinstein are executive producers on Return Of The King.
Joining Law and Murray in the best actor race are Sean Penn for Mystic River, Johnny Depp for Buena Vista's Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl and Ben Kingsley for Dreamwork's The House Of Sand And Fog.
Best actress nominees are Golden Globe winner Charlize Theron for Newmarket's Monster, Diane Keaton for Sony's Something's Gotta Give, Samantha Morton for Fox Searchlight's In America, Naomi Watts for Focus Features' 21 Grams and -Hughes for Whale Rider.
Tim Robbins will contest the best supporting actor category for Mystic River with Alec Baldwin for Lions Gate's The Cooler, Benicio Del Toro for Focus Features' 21 Grams, Djimon Hounsou for In America and Watanabe for The Last Samurai.
Supporting actress nominees are Shohreh Aghdashloo for House Of Sand And Fog, Patricia Clarkson for UA's Pieces Of April, Marica Gay Harden for Mystic River, Holly Hunter for In America and Zellweger for Cold Mountain.
The Barbarian Invasions (Canada) will contest the best foreign language film category with Evil (Sweden), Twin Sisters (The Netherlands), The Twilight Samurai (Japan) and Zelary (Czech Republic). While this category often springs some surprises, the omission of Osama which won the Golden Globe, and worldwide hit Good Bye Lenin! were major shocks.
Jim Sherdian, Naomi Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan are in the running for best original screenplay for In America, along with Arcand for The Barbarian Invasions, Steven Knight for Miramax's Dirty Pretty Things, Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds for Buena Vista's Finding Nemo and Coppola for Lost In Translation.
Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini earned a best adapted screenplay nomination for HBO/Fine Line's American Splendor, Braulio Mantovani for City Of God, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson for Return Of The King, Brian Helgeland for Mystic River and Gary Ross for Seabiscuit.
The animated feature prize will be contested by Buena Vista's Finding Nemo and Brother Bear and Sony Pictures Classics' The Triplets Of Bellville.
Full list of Oscar nominees:
Best Picture
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Lost In Translation
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
Directing
City Of God
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Lost In Translation
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Mystic River
Actor In A Leading Role
Johnny Depp - Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
Ben Kingsley - House Of Sand And Fog
Jude Law - Cold Mountain
Bill Murray - Lost In Translation
Sean Penn - Mystic River
Actress In A Leading Role
Keisha Castle-Hughes - Whale Rider
Diane Keaton - Something's Gotta Give
Samantha Morton - In America
Charlize Theron - Monster
Naomi Watts - 21 Grams
Actor In A Supporting Role
Alec Baldwin - The Cooler
Benicio Del Toro - 21 Grams
Djimon Hounsou - In America
Tim Robbins - Mystic River
Ken Watanabe - The Last Samurai
Actress In A Supporting Role
Shohreh Aghdashloo - House Of Sand And Fog
Patricia Clarkson - Pieces Of April
Marcia Gay Harden - Mystic River
Holly Hunter - Thirteen
Renee Zellweger - Cold Mountain
Animated Feature Film
Brother Bear
Finding Nemo
The Triplets Of Belleville
Foreign Language Film
The Barbarian Invasions
Evil
The Twilight Samurai
Twin Sisters
Z
American Splendor
City Of God
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Barbarian Invasions
Dirty Pretty Things
Finding Nemo
In America
Lost In Translation
Art Direction
Girl With A Pearl Earring
The Last Samurai
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Seabiscuit
Cinematography
City Of God
Cold Mountain
Girl With A Pearl Earring
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Seabiscuit
Costume Design
Girl With A Pearl Earring
The Last Samurai
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Seabiscuit
Documentary Feature
Balseros
Capturing The Friedmans
The Fog Of War
My Architect
The Weather Underground
Film Editing
City Of God
Cold Mountain
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Seabiscuit
Makeup
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
Music (Score)
Big Fish
Cold Mountain
Finding Nemo
House Of Sand And Fog
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Music (Song)
"Into The West" - The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
"A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow" - A Mighty Wind
"Scarlet Tide" - Cold Mountain
"The Triplets Of Belleville" - The Triplets Of Belleville
"You Will Be My Ain True Love" - Cold Mountain
Documentary Short Subject
Asylum
Chernobyl Heart
Ferry Tales
Short Film (Animated)
Boundin'
Destino
Gone Nutty
Harvie Krumpet
Nibbles
Short Film (Live Action)
Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket)
Most (The Bridge)
Squash
(A) Torzija ([A] Torsion)
Two Soldiers
Sound
The Last Samurai
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
Seabiscuit
Sound Editing
Finding Nemo
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
Visual Effects
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
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