‘Infinity War’ and ‘First Man’ among Oscar contenders for visual effects

By Rick Marshall Published December 5, 2018

The next set of Academy Awards nominees will be officially announced in January, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a preliminary list of contenders in the Best Visual Effects category.

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The list of 20 films in the running for an Academy Award nomination includes the usual big-budget spectacle projects, with Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Ant-Man and the Wasp all named as potential nominees, as well as a few smaller films, such as Christopher Robin, Isle of Dogs, and Welcome to Marwen. In what has become fairly common in the era of media consolidation, Disney projects dominate the list of contenders, encompassing all three aforementioned Marvel movies and Christopher Robin, as well as Incredibles 2, Mary Poppins Returns, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

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The presence of Incredibles 2 in the list of contenders is noteworthy, as there have only been two animated features to receive an Academy Award nomination for visual effects over the years, 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and 2016’s Kubo and the Two Strings. However, the partially animated feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit was nominated and won the category in 1988.

The list of 20 contenders was determined by the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, and the list will be shortened to 10 films by the end of 2018. Those 10 films will then be voted on for nominations, with five films ultimately being nominated for Academy Awards in the visual effects category.

Last year’s nominees in the Best Visual Effects category included Blade Runner 2049, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Kong: Skull Island, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, and War for the Planet of the Apes. The Academy Award was won by Blade Runner 2049.

Past winners have included The Jungle Book (2017), Ex Machina (2016), Interstellar (2015), Gravity (2014), and Life of Pi (2013).

Here is the full list of contenders for Academy Awards in the Best Visual Effects category.

Ant-Man and the Wasp
Aquaman
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Bumblebee
Christopher Robin
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
First Man
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Mary Poppins Returns
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Mortal Engines
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Paddington 2
A Quiet Place
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Welcome to Marwen

The 91st Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to air February 24, 2019, on ABC.

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