Fox SearchlightSlumdog Millionaire's continued awards-season domination has taken a curious twist: It finally has gotten some company at the top.
The Mumbai-set inspirational drama tied with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for a leading 11 nominations, including dueling Best Film nods, at the Orange British Academy Film Awards 2009, aka the BAFTAs.
Hot on their tails is The Dark Knight, with nine nominations, including the now requisite Supporting Actor nod for Heath Ledger, followed by Changeling with eight. Frost/Nixon (six nominations), The Reader (five) and Revolutionary Road, Milk and In Bruges (four apiece) are among the other top contenders.
Gone, however, is the opportunity for Kate Winslet to repeat her Golden Globe double win on her home turf. While the actress did receive nominations for her work in The Reader and Revolutionary Road, they were both in the Leading Actress category, meaning her greatest competition might just be herself.
BAFTA cofrontrunner Slumdog Millionaire, meanwhile, picked up nominations in nearly every major category. In addition to Best Film, the little movie that could scored nods for Adapted Screenplay, Best Director for Danny Boyle, Outstanding British Film, Leading Actor for Dev Patel and Supporting Actress for Freida Pinto.
Rounding out the Best Film competitors: The Curious Case of Benjamin, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is also competing in the Director race with David Fincher and earned a Leading Actor nod for Brad Pitt, one of two nominations he picked up.
In addition to his time-defying performance in Button, Pitt also scored in the Supporting Actor category for Burn After Reading, pitting him against Tropic Thunder's "dude playing a dude disguised as another dude" Robert Downey Jr., Doubt's Philip Seymour Hoffman, In Bruges' Brendan Gleeson and Ledger.
As for Winslet, in addition to herself, her competition in the Leading Actress category is shaping up to be a familiar group of gals with Changeling's Angelina Jolie, I've Loved You So Long's Kristin Scott Thomas and Doubt's Meryl Streep rounding out the category. Winslet's double nod appears to have squeezed Anne Hathaway clear out of contention.
The Leading Actor slate features Slumdog Millionaire's Patel with his first top-tier nod facing off against the usual suspects: Frost/Nixon's Frank Langella, Milk's Sean Penn, The Wrestler's Mickey Rourke, and Pitt.
On the Supporting Actress side, Doubt's Amy Adams maintains the film's three-for-three acting nod trifecta and is joined by Vicky Cristina Barcelona's Penelope Cruz, who scored the film's sole individual acting nod, Burn After Reading's Tilda Swinton, The Wrestler's Marisa Tomei and Pinto.
BAFTA's trademark category, the Orange Rising Star Award, will as always be voted on by the public and includes Michael Cera and Vicky Cristina Barcelona's Rebecca Hall, among others.
British TV personality Jonathan Ross hosts the ceremony, taking place Feb. 8 in London.
Here's the complete list of nominees:
BEST FILM
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
DIRECTOR
- Clint Eastwood, Changeling
- David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
- Stephen Daldry, The Reader
- Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- Joel and Ethan Coen, Burn After Reading
- J. Michael Straczynski, Changeling
- Philippe Claudel, I’ve Loved You So Long
- Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
- Dustin Lance Black, Milk
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
- David Hare, The Reader
- Justin Haythe, Revolutionary Road
- Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
LEADING ACTOR
- Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
- Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
- Sean Penn, Milk
- Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
LEADING ACTRESS
- Angelina Jolie, Changeling
- Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
- Meryl Streep, Doubt
- Kate Winslet, The Reader
- Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
- Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
- Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
- Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Amy Adams, Doubt
- Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Freida Pinto, Slumdog Millionaire
- Tilda Swinton, Burn After Reading
- Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
MUSIC
- Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, The Dark Knight
- Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Mamma Mia!
- A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
- Thomas Newman, Wall-E
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
EDITING
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Frost/Nixon
- In Bruges
- Slumdog Millionaire
PRODUCTION DESIGN
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Revolutionary Road
- Slumdog Millionaire
COSTUME DESIGN
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- The Duchess
- Revolutionary Road
SOUND
- Changeling
- The Dark Knight
- Quantum of Solace
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Wall-E
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Iron Man
- Quantum of Solace
MAKE UP & HAIR
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- The Duchess
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
- Hunger
- In Bruges
- Mamma Mia!
- Man on Wire
- Slumdog Millionaire
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
- The Baader Meinhof Complex
- Gomorrah
- I've Loved You So Long
- Persepolis
- Waltz With Bashir
ANIMATED FILM
- Persepolis
- WALL-E
- Waltz With Bashir
SHORT ANIMATION
- Codswallop
- Varmints
- Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD
(For special achievement by a British director, writer or producer for their first feature film.)
- Simon Chinn, producer; Man on Wire
- Judy Craymer, producer; Mamma Mia!
- Garth Jennings, writer; Son of Rambow
- Steve McQueen, director/writer; Hunger
- Solon Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter, producers; Of Time and the City
SHORT FILM
- Kingsland #1 The Dreamer
- Love You More
- Ralph
- September
- Voyages D'affaires (The Business Trip)
THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
- Michael Cera
- Noel Clarke
- Michael Fassbender
- Rebecca Hall
- Toby Kebbell