The 20 contenders for the VFX Oscar include Star Wars, Mad Max, and The Martian

By Rick Marshall December 8, 2015

Star Wars force awakens — Walt Disney Studios

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 20 films currently being considered for nominations in the Visual Effects category at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Along with many of this year’s biggest blockbusters, the list of contenders also includes a few films that failed to find success at the box office despite their impressive VFX elements. The films currently being considered for the category include the following projects (in alphabetical order):

Ant-Man

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Bridge of Spies

Chappie

Everest

Ex Machina

Furious Seven

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

In the Heart of the Sea

Jupiter Ascending

Jurassic World

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

The Revenant

Spectre

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Terminator Genisys

Tomorrowland

The Walk

The preliminary list of contenders for the Visual Effects category was determined by the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, and the list will be narrowed down to ten films later this month. The final nominations for the 88th Academy Awards will be announced Thursday, January 14, at 5:30 am PT during a live broadcast from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.

While films like The Martian, The Walk, and The Revenant were all expected to earn consideration, other films like Jupiter Ascending and Furious Seven are a bit of a surprise, and it will be interesting to see which projects make the cut when the list is reduced to ten nominees.

Last year’s five nominees for the VFX award included Interstellar, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar won the Academy Award for that category.

The 88th Academy Awards ceremony will be held February 28, 2016, in Hollywood. The event will be broadcast live on ABC, beginning at 7 pm ET.

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