'Avatar,' 'Hurt Locker' lead BAFTA nominations

"Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" lead the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominations with eight each.

Sci-Fi film "District 9" garnered seven nominations, including one for Best Director, which is something we are unlikely to see from the Academy Awards.

"District 9" may get a Best Picture nomination now that the field has been expanded to 10 films, but we would be surprised to see it get a Best Director nomination.

UPDATE: Sandra Bullock is not eligible for "The Blind Side" because it will not be released in the U.K. until 2010. We apologize for the error.

It's nice to see Jeremy Renner nominated for "The Hurt Locker." He was not nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor, though he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award, and has everyone wondering if he'll be nominated for an Oscar.

The entire field of nominees is as follows:

Best Film
Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Precious, Up in the Air

Outstanding British Film
An Education, Fish Tank, In the Loop, Moon, Nowhere Boy

Director
James Cameron, Avatar; Neill Blomkamp, District 9; Lone Scherfig, An Education; Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker; Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Original Screenplay
The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, Up

Adapted Screenplay
District 9, An Education, In the Loop, Precious, Up in the Air

Film not in the English Language
Broken Embraces, Coco Before Chanel, Let the Right One In, A Prophet, The White Ribbon

Animated Film
Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up

Leading Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart; George Clooney, Up in the Air; Colin Firth, A Single Man; Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker; Andy Serkis, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Leading Actress
Carey Mulligan, An Education; Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones; Gabouray Sidibe, Precious; Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia; Audrey Tautou, Coco Before Chanel

Supporting Actor
Alec Baldwin, It's Complicated; Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles; Alfred Molina, An Education; Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones; Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress
Anne-Marie Duff, Nowhere Boy; Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air, Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air; Mo'Nique, Precious; Kristin Scott Thomas, Nowhere Boy

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, David Pearson, directors/producers, Mugabe and the White African; Eran Creevy, writer/director; Shifty
Stuart Hazeldine, writer/director, Exam; Duncan Jones, director, Moon; Sam Taylor-Wood, director, Nowhere Boy

Music
Avatar, Crazy Heart, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Up

Cinematography
Avatar, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The Road

Editing
Avatar, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Up in the Air

Production Design
Avatar, District 9, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Inglourious Basterds

Costume Design
Bright Star, Coco Before Chanel, An Education, A Single Man, The Young Victoria

Sound
Avatar, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Star Trek, Up

Special Visual Effects
Avatar, District 9, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Hurt Locker, Star Trek

Make Up and Hair
Coco Before Chanel, An Education, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Nine, The Young Victoria

Short Animation
The Gruffalo, The Happy Duckling, Mother of Many

Short Film
14, I Do Air, Jade, Mixtape, Off Season

The Orange Rising Star Award (voted on by the public)
Jesse Eisenberg, Nicholas Hoult, Carey Mulligan, Tahar Rahim, Kristen Stewart

The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on Feb. 21. The next U.S. awards show is the Screen Actors Guild awards, which airs on Jan. 23 on TBS and TNT.

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Related

Zap2it's complete Golden Globes coverage
Screen Actors Guild nominations

Photo credit: 20th Century FOX, Voltage Pictures