The Producers Guild of America have announced their nominations for the Best Picture of 2016. It’s rare for a film to lack a PGA nomination and go on to a Best Picture win, so if you want to be in serious contention in the Oscar race, you need a PGA nod.
And the nominees are:
Arrival
Deadpool
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
The big surprise in this bunch here is Deadpool. While that doesn’t guarantee that the film is a lock for a Best Picture Oscar nomination, it certainly puts the superhero film in better contention than Oscar hopefuls like Silence or Live by Night.
But the biggest news is that La La Land has cemented its status as the frontrunner. The film didn’t land a SAG nomination for Best Ensemble, but with a PGA nomination in hand, if the film ends up winning the PGA award, it’s likely going to be declared Best Picture on Oscar night.
The PGA also announced its nominees for Best Animated Film:
Finding Dory
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
The Secret Life of Pets
Zootopia
And for Best Documentary Feature:
Dancer
The Eagle Huntress
Life, Animated
O.J. Made in America
Tower
While it would be nice to not see animation and documentaries shunted off into their own little categories, at least it provides more recognition for more movies. I'm a bit bummed to see 13th shut out of the documentary category, but it looks like O.J. Made in America is making a serious run. However, that run will likely be halted on awards night when the Academy inevitably chooses the nicest documentary over the most important one.
The PGA Award winners will be announced on Saturday, January 28, 2017.