The Producers Guild of America announces their 2020 awards nominees, and the list could be a compelling Oscar preview. As most cinephiles are aware, the latest awards season is in full swing, with the 2020 Golden Globes taking place this past weekend. Only a few days remain until the Academy unveils their nominees, and a number of the Oscar precursors have already weighed in by revealing their picks for the best in film this past year. Nothing's set in stone, but viewers have a better idea of what's in the running.
Industry guilds like the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild are among the most prominent awards bodies, and many consider them to be a solid prognosticator of how the Oscars will play out. For instance, the past two Best Picture winners, 2018's Green Book and 2017's The Shape of Water, also took home the top prize at the PGA awards. Those looking to get an inside track on their Oscar pools may want to take a look at the films the PGA honored in 2020.
Today, the PGA announced their nominees. Up for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award (the PGA's Best Picture equivalent) are 10 films, many of which have racked up several accolades already. Check out the full list in the space below:
- 1917
- Ford v Ferrari
- The Irishman
- Jojo Rabbit
- Joker
- Knives Out
- Little Women
- Marriage Story
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
- Parasite
This is more or less the same crop of movies popping up on a variety of top 10 lists, including those from the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. Oscar frontrunners such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917 only strengthen their résumés here, and Knives Out continues to be a pleasant surprise as the awards contender few saw coming even a few months ago. Titles like Ford v Ferrari and Little Women received a much-needed boost from PGA, as they ranked among the more notable Golden Globes snubs. Both films earned some consideration in the acting categories, but neither had much Best Picture heat over the course of the season. Popping up on the PGA list gives Fox and Sony (the studios behind Ford v Ferrari and Little Women, respectively) hope they may not be out of the running for the Oscar just yet.
While the PGA Awards are very indicative of how Oscar voters are leaning, there typically are some slight differences between their respective nominees. Last year, PGA nominated A Quiet Place and Crazy Rich Asians in their Best Picture category, but those were left off the Academy's list (there were only eight Oscar nominees for Best Picture last year). It'll be interesting to see which PGA picks are bypassed by the Oscars. At first glance, Ford v Ferrari and Little Women seem like the most likely snubs. Perhaps one of them will surprise, but it all depends on how the preliminary Oscar ballots turned out.
Source: PGA