Oscar contenders, start your engines! The race has finally begun as the Academy unveiled their full list of nominations for 2018.

As expected, the romantic fantasy The Shape of Water leads the way with a commanding thirteen nods, which include the all-important Best Picture mention.

The film, which focuses on a mute woman who falls for an Amphibian man, also scored a Best Director nod for Guillermo del Toro.

Stars Sally Hawkins (as Elisa Esposito), Richard Jenkins (as Giles) and Octavia Spencer (as Zelda) were all recognised in Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

 

The World War II epic Dunkirk is second in the nomination count with eight, which includes Best Picture as well as a first Best Director nod for Christopher Nolan, who had previously been overlooked for his work on The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010).

The comedic drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has seven mentions including Best Picture to follow up its recent successes at the Golden Globes and Screen Actor’s Guild. However, filmmaker Martin McDonagh was surprisingly snubbed for Best Director, though he does receive a nod for his original screenplay.

Best Actress frontrunner Frances McDormand (as Mildred Hayes) is nominated alongside her two male co-stars Woody Harrelson (as Chief Bill Willoughby) and Sam Rockwell (as Jason Dixon) who are both up for Best Supporting Actor.

 

Elsewhere, the psychological horror Get Out and the indie comedy Lady Bird both performed well as they picked up key mentions in Best Picture. Both Jordan Peele (Get Out) and Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) are recognised for their directing AND screenplays. The latter becomes only the fifth woman to be nominated for Best Director!

British starlet Daniel Kaluuya (as Chris Washington) receives his first Oscar nod for his lead role in Get Out while Lady Bird’s Saoirse Ronan (as Christine McPherson) and Laurie Metcalf (as Marion McPherson) are acknowledged in Best Actress and Supporting Actress respectively.

One film that surprisingly performed well was the romantic drama Phantom Thread, which picked up six nominations, including Best Picture and an unexpected Best Director nod for Paul Thomas Anderson.

In what is said to be his final film role, the great Daniel Day-Lewis (as Reynolds Woodcock) is recognised in Best Actor while co-star Lesley Manville (as Cyril Woodcock) is up for Best Supporting Actress.

The rest of the Best Picture line-up is completed by the romantic drama Call Me By Your Name (four nods) and historical biopics Darkest Hour (six nods) and The Post (two nods).

 

In the acting fields, Gary Oldman (as Winston Churchill) receives his second Best Actor nomination for Darkest Hour and will be competing against youngster Timothée Chalamet (as Elio) in Call Me By Your Name, and previous category winner Denzel Washington (as defence attorney Roman Israel) for the drama Roman J. Israel, Esq..

In Best Actress, the great Meryl Streep (as Katharine Graham) lands a remarkable 21st nomination for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s The Post and is up against Sally Hawkins, Frances McDormand, Saoirse Ronan and Australian beauty Margot Robbie (as Tonya Harding) for the sports biopic I, Tonya.

Less than three months ago, Christopher Plummer was not even involved with the real-life drama All the Money in the World, yet he receives a unique Best Supporting Actor nod for his portrayal of billionaire J. Paul Getty.

His competition in that category includes Willem Dafoe (as Bobby) for The Florida Project, Richard Jenkins and Three Billboards duo Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell.

 

The Supporting Actress line-up sees Lesley Manville, Laurie Metcalf and Octavia Spencer up against category favourite Allison Janney (as LaVona Golden) for I, Tonya and pop singer-turned actress Mary J. Blige (as Florence Jackson) for Mudbound. The latter is also acknowledged for her song “Mighty River” from the same film.

There were some notable acting snubs with recent Golden Globe winner James Franco (The Disaster Artist) being overlooked following allegations of sexual misconduct along with the likes of Tom Hanks (The Post), Jessica Chastain (Molly’s Game), Hong Chau (Downsizing) and Holly Hunter (The Big Sick).

Elsewhere, a number of blockbusters received key mentions including Baby Driver, Beauty and the Beast, Blade Runner 2049, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Kong: Skull Island, Logan and War for the Planet of the Apes.

Despite its diverse reviews, Star Wars: The Last Jedi also performed well with four nods, which include yet another Best Original Score nomination for the great John Williams.

Pixar’s Coco is the favourite to win Best Animated Film and is up against the likes of The Boss Baby, The Breadwinner and Ferdinand.

The biggest films to be ignored by the Academy altogether included Battle of the Sexes, Detroit, Downsizing, The LEGO Batman Movie, Murder on the Orient Express, Stronger and Wonder Woman.

The 90th Academy Awards ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday 4 March with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the second year in a row.

The full list of Oscar nominations are below (winner predictions in blue):

BEST FILM
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
DARKEST HOUR
DUNKIRK
GET OUT
LADY BIRD
PHANTOM THREAD
THE POST
THE SHAPE OF WATER
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, PHANTOM THREAD
Greta Gerwig, LADY BIRD
Christopher Nolan, DUNKIRK
Jordan Peele, GET OUT
Guillermo del Toro, THE SHAPE OF WATER

 

BEST ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins, THE SHAPE OF WATER
Frances McDormand, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Margot Robbie, I, TONYA
Saoirse Ronan, LADY BIRD
Meryl Streep, THE POST

BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Daniel Day-Lewis, PHANTOM THREAD
Daniel Kaluuya, GET OUT
Gary Oldman, DARKEST HOUR
Denzel Washington, ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige, MUDBOUND
Allison Janney, I, TONYA
Lesley Manville, PHANTOM THREAD
Laurie Metcalf, LADY BIRD
Octavia Spencer, THE SHAPE OF WATER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe, THE FLORIDA PROJECT
Woody Harrelson, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Richard Jenkins, THE SHAPE OF WATER
Christopher Plummer, ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
Sam Rockwell, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (James Ivory)
THE DISASTER ARTIST (Scott Neustadfter & Michael H. Weber)
LOGAN (Scott Frank, James Mangold & Michael Green)
MOLLY’S GAME (Aaron Sorkin)
MUDBOUND (Virgil Williams & Dee Rees)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE BIG SICK (Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordon)
GET OUT (Jordan Peele)
LADY BIRD (Greta Gerwig)
THE SHAPE OF WATER (Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor)
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (Martin McDonagh)

 

BEST EDITING
BABY DRIVER
DUNKIRK
I, TONYA
THE SHAPE OF WATER
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DARKEST HOUR
DUNKIRK
MUDBOUND
THE SHAPE OF WATER

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DARKEST HOUR
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
DARKEST HOUR
PHANTOM THREAD
THE SHAPE OF WATER
VICTORIA & ABDUL

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
DARKEST HOUR
VICTORIA & ABDUL
WONDER

 

BEST SOUND MIXING
BABY DRIVER
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

BEST SOUND EDITING
BABY DRIVER
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
BLADE RUNNER 2049
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
KONG: SKULL ISLAND
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
DUNKIRK (Hans Zimmer)
PHANTOM THREAD (Jonny Greenwood)
THE SHAPE OF WATER (Alexandre Desplat)
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (John Williams)
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (Carter Burwell)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (“Mystery of Love”)
COCO (“Remember Me”)
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (“This is Me”)
MARSHALL (“Stand Up for Something”)
MUDBOUND (“Mighty River”)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
THE BOSS BABY
THE BREADWINNER
COCO
FERDINAND
LOVING VINCENT

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A FANTASTIC WOMAN (Chile)
THE INSULT (Lebanon)
LOVELESS (Russia)
ON BODY AND SOUL (Hungary)
THE SQUARE (Sweden)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL
FACES PLACES
ICARUS
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO
STRONG ISLAND

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
EDITH + EDDIE
HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405
HEROIN(E)
KNIFE SKILLS
TRAFFIC STOP

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
DEKLAB ELEMENTARY
THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK
MY NEPHEW EMMETT
THE SILENT CHILD
WATU WOTE/ALL OF US

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
DEAR BASKETBALL
GARDEN PARTY
LOU
NEGATIVE SPACE
REVOLTING RHYMES