LOS ANGELES —
“Lincoln,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Argo” and “Les Miserables” earned multiple Oscar nominations Thursday morning, as expected, and the announcement put Steven Spielberg on track to win his third Academy Award for best director.
Spielberg’s movie about the 16th president’s struggle to end the Civil War and slavery dominated the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards, earning an impressive 12 nominations including best picture and nods for performers Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field.
Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” — a story about a shipwrecked young man who shares a lifeboat with a tiger — followed with 11 nominations. That in turn was followed by the epic musical “Les Miserables” and the quirky romantic comedy “Silver Linings Playbook,” which earned eight nominations apiece.
The nine best film nominees are: “Lincoln,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Argo,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Amour,” “Django Unchained” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Best actor nominees included Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln,” Bradley Cooper for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Denzel Washington for “Flight.” Best actress nominees included Jessica Chastain for “Zero Dark Thirty” and Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Linings Playbook.”
In the supporting performers’ categories, those nominated include Robert De Niro, Alan Arkin and Anne Hathaway.
Along with Spielberg, the nominees for best director included Lee for “Life of Pi,” David O. Russell for “Silver Linings Playbook,” Michael Haneke for “Amour” and Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Passed over in the director nominations were Kathryn Bigelow for “Zero Dark Thirty,” Tom Hooper for “Les Miserables” and Ben Affleck for “Argo.”
The academy nods solidify Spielberg’s position as one of the film industry’s most enduring directors. Not that Spielberg’s standing was ever in doubt: Thursday’s nomination gives him his seventh best director nomination. It’s an honor he has won twice before — for “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.”
The 85th Academy Awards are scheduled to be held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland on Feb. 24 and telecast live on ABC.
Seth MacFarlane of “Family Guy” and “Ted” is this year’s host.
