insiderblmThe 2021 Oscar nominations will be announced later, with Nomadland, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Mank and Minari expected to be among the contenders.
This year’s Academy Awards ceremony has been delayed until April amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Actress Priyanka Chopra and her husband Nick Jonas will announce the contenders at 12:19 GMT.
Daniel Kaluuya, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Carey Mulligan are expected to be among this year’s British acting nominees.
But the 2021 awards season has thrown up a lot of surprises so far, and there could well be some upsets among the nominations.
Who could be nominated?
There are likely to be several Brits in contention. In the leading actor and actress categories, there could be recognition for Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman), Gary Oldman (Mank) and Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal).
The supporting actor and actress field also has plenty of UK representation, with Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah), Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and Olivia Colman (The Father) all in the race.
Meanwhile, the late Chadwick Boseman is likely to score a posthumous leading actor nomination for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Other big US names likely to make the cut include Viola Davis (also for Ma Rainey), Frances McDormand, (Nomadland), Amanda Seyfried (Mank), and Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy).
Minari is another film which could pick up multiple nominations, including best picture, best director for Lee Isaac Chung, and acting nods for its stars Yuh-Jung Youn and Steven Yeun.
Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) and Regina King (One Night In Miami) are among the women who could be up for best director, after all three were nominated at the Golden Globes, with Zhao going on to win.
Where are we at with awards season?
We might have a rough idea of what will be nominated, but given this is such an unusual year, there could well be some surprises.
The 2021 awards season is taking place later than normal, the ceremonies have been conducted virtually, and there’s less consensus over who the eventual winners will be.
With traditional parties, premieres and press conferences off the cards amid the pandemic, it has been harder to detect which films have momentum behind them on the ground.
There were some significant upsets at the Golden Globe Awards last month, with Rosamund Pike (I Care A Lot), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian) and Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) all beating the respective favourites in their categories to claim victory.
The Bafta nominations followed last week, which were hugely out of step with expectations, but achieved the British Academy’s aim of recognising a much more diverse group of actors and films.
With cinemas still closed around the world, critics say there is even less awareness of the nominated films among the general public than usual. That has resulted in lower viewing figures for ceremonies such as the Golden Globes.
Most other awards bodies, such as the Baftas, SAG Awards and Independent Spirits, have at this stage only announced their nominations, with the ceremonies due to take place in the coming weeks.
Nominations for the Producers Guild of America (PGA), Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) awards have also all been announced.
Last year’s Oscars saw Parasite take home best picture, with Brad Pitt, Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix and Renée Zellweger scooping the top acting prizes.
