BAFTA Nominations: Bridge of Spies, Carol Lead Film Awards Race

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts unveiled the nominations for its film awards Friday at it headquarters in London. Bridge of Spies and Carol led the nominations race with nine apiece.

The Revenant was nominated in eight categories. Mad Max: Fury Road has seven nominations. Brooklyn and The Martian were each nominated six times. The Big Short, The Danish Girl and Ex Machina received five nominations. Star Wars: The Force Awakens took four nominations.

In the major categories, Carol, Bridge of Spies, The Big Short and Brooklyn all featured prominently, followed by The Danish Girl, The Revenant, Spotlight, Ex Machina and Steve Jobs. Among the underperformers in the major categories were Trumbo, Sicario and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Amanda Berry, CEO of BAFTA, told Variety that the nominations were marked by the openness of the contest, with six films with more than five nominations. It looks like a very evenly spread and open field, she said, adding that this would help spice up anticipation on awards night.

The list was also enriched by the inclusion of a broad range of film types, embracing a wide spectrum of genre and storylines, and pics of widely different scale and provenance. I'm excited about the fact that we have a really good mix of independent and blockbuster films, Berry said. The breadth of range was exemplified by the differences between the films heading the race, such as Bridge of Spies and Carol.

Berry is also pleased about the mix of first-time nominees and more established players, and in particular the inclusion of actress Alicia Vikander, who contests in two categories. Vikander, who is a BAFTA nominations debutante, featured in BAFTA's Rising Star lineup in 2013. I'm always particularly pleased when we've identified and shone a bright spotlight on people at the start of their career, and it comes through later with nominations, Berry said.

The acting contests seem particularly strong. If you look at the performance categories, it is the most extraordinary list. If we get each and everyone of those nominees in the room we are going to have a heck of a night, Berry said.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Bryan Cranston and Eddie Redmayne are vying for best actor, and three relative newcomers on the awards scene, Vikander, Brie Larson and Saoirse Ronan, take on established thesps Cate Blanchett and Maggie Smith for best actress. The supporting categories include Benicio Del Toro, Kate Winslet, Christian Bale, Idris Elba, Mark Ruffalo, Mark Rylance, Vikander, again, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Julie Walters and Rooney Mara.

Apart from Vikander, other first-time BAFTA nominees include Mara, Elba, Rylance and Jason Leigh. Surprising omissions in the acting categories include Tom Hanks for Bridge of Spies and Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years.

Social media continues to amp up public engagement with and interest in the awards, in particular, and movies, in general. Social media allows absolutely everyone to have an opinion, and one of the things I love about film, and this time of year, is that everybody wants to talk about film, Berry said.

Elizabeth Karlsen, one of the producers on Todd Haynes' Carol, told Variety that the awards season felt like a roller-coaster ride this week, following the Producers Guild of America's decision to leave the film out of its nominations list on Tuesday; now the pic's team were on a high again with its very strong showing in the BAFTA race.

Having nine nominations is really fantastic for a film like Carol,' and to see Todd's work and Todd recognized in this way, which hasn't fully happened until this point, is incredibly gratifying because he is one of the great contemporary American filmmakers, and his films and Carol' will be here long after we are all gone, she said, although she added that she would have liked to have seen the contribution of Carter Burwell and Affonso Goncalves recognized as well, for music and editing respectively.

Among the U.K. distributors of the movies, 20th Century Fox was streets ahead with 24 nominations, shared by Bridge of Spies, The Revenant, The Martian and He Named Me Malala. Universal followed with 15, led by The Danish Girl, Ex Machina and Steve Jobs, but also with one each for Listen to Me Marlon and Minions, and Studiocanal had 13, driven mainly by Carol, but also with contributions from Room, Shaun the Sheep Movie and The Assassin.

Duncan Clark, president of distribution at Universal Pictures Intl., agrees that it is an open race, and all the better for that. It is not a year that has got any one film doing the sweeping, which has been a characteristic of years gone by, he told Variety.

One of the pleasant surprises was the BAFTA members' response to writer-director Alex Garland's Ex Machina, given that the film opened in the U.K. almost a year ago. It was a great movie, and there's no question it was a very original piece, and Alex did a terrific job, Clark said. He is also pleased with the Academy members' strong backing for another British pic distributed by the studio, The Danish Girl, including in the British film category, where Clark expects the film to be a strong contender. The Danish Girl has just opened in the U.K., and Clark is confident that the BAFTA nominations will boost its box office. The three nominations for Steve Jobs were another reason to celebrate for Universal, although Clark would have liked to have seen director Danny Boyle's work recognized.

The list of nominees was revealed by BAFTA's chair Anne Morrison, actor and BAFTA awards presenter Stephen Fry, and actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The awards take place on Feb. 14 at the Royal Opera House, London.

2015 BAFTA NOMINATIONS

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