The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced this year’s Oscar nominations at a pre-dawn ceremony, here in Los Angeles.

Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel top the list, each receiving nine nods, with The Imitation Game close behind them on eight.

Academy members have narrowed down their Best Picture list to eight, all of which featured in one of the two Best Film categories at the Golden Globes, except Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, which will be up against the three most nominated films, along with Boyhood, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.

American Sniper also makes it onto the Best Leading Actor shortlist, with Bradley Cooper receiving his third Oscar nomination in as many years, after Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. This leaves six of the Golden Globes’ ten Best Actor nominees out of contention, as Cooper will go up against the two British actors Eddie Redmayne, for The Theory of Everything, and Benedict Cumberbatch, in The Imitation Game, as well as Birdman’s Michael Keaton and Steve Carell, for Foxcatcher.

The Best Supporting Actor shortlist matches that of both the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave their prize to JK Simmons for Whiplash, who will again be up against Edward Norton, from Birdman, Boyhood’s Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher and Robert Duvall for otherwise poorly received The Judge.

The wild card in the Lead Actress category is the Marion Cotillard, from France, for her role in the Belgian film Two Days, One Night, a role that’s been overlooked by both the HFPA and SAG. She’s up against the Golden Globe winner Julianne Moore, for Still Alice, Reese Witherspoon for Wild and the two British actresses Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike, for The Theory of Everything and Gone Girl respectively.

The notable nomination in the Supporting Actress category is Meryl Streep, who’s extended her record of the most nominated actor, earning her nineteenth nomination for Into The Woods. She’ll face competition from the Golden Globe winner Patricia Arquette for Boyhood, Birdman’s Emma Stone, Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game and Wild’s Laura Dern.

The Academy has nominated four of five directors shortlisted by the DGA, seeing Boyhood’s Richard Linklater up against Birdman’s Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Wes Anderson, who directed The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game’s Morten Tyldum. This makes Foxcatcher’s Bennett Miller the outsider for the honour, as the DGA has a good record of selecting the Oscar winner.

The most conspicuous difference between the Oscar nominations and the films in the running for the Golden Globes, among the main categories, is the Academy’s inclusion of American Sniper, a sign that Eastwood’s film works better for an American than an international audience.

A number of other films, including Interstellar, Mr Turner and Nightcrawler have picked up nominations in some of the lower profile categories.

 

Recognising the nominations of British productions including The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything and Mr Turner, the head of the BFI, Amanda Nevill, described the list as “a cracking result for British film, recognising the sheer brilliance and skill of our talent working both in front of and behind the camera.”

Although Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel are tied for total nominations, Birdman – the front-runner since the start of awards season – is recognised in more of the major categories, putting it in the strongest position for the ceremony, to be held in 22nd February at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Best animated feature film of the year

The full list of nominations:

Best Picture
American Sniper – Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)- Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W.Skotchdopole, Producers
Boyhood – Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
The Imitation Game – Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
Selma – Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
The Theory of Everything – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers
Whiplash – Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Robert Duvall in The Judge
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Edward Norton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Achievement in directing
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum

Adapted screenplay
“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall
“The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
“Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle

Original screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

Best animated feature film of the year
“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Achievement in cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
“Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
“Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
“Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
“Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Best documentary feature
“CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
“Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
“Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
“The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
“Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best documentary short subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Achievement in film editing
“American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
“Boyhood” Sandra Adair
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
“Whiplash” Tom Cross

Best foreign language film of the year
“Ida” Poland
“Leviathan” Russia
“Tangerines” Estonia
“Timbuktu” Mauritania
“Wild Tales” Argentina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Alexandre Desplat
“The Imitation Game” Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar” Hans Zimmer
“Mr. Turner” Gary Yershon
“The Theory of Everything” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from “Selma”
Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”
Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Achievement in production design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“The Imitation Game” Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
“Interstellar” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“Into the Woods” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Mr. Turner” Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best animated short film
“The Bigger Picture” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
“The Dam Keeper” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
“Feast” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
“Me and My Moulton” Torill Kove
“A Single Life” Joris Oprins

Best live action short film
“Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Achievement in sound editing
“American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
“Interstellar” Richard King
“Unbroken” Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Achievement in sound mixing
“American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
“Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Achievement in visual effects
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
“Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer