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

Rick Marshall
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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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Rick Marshall
Rick Marshall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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