Los Angeles - Con artist caper "American Hustle" and space thriller "Gravity" came out on top of the Oscar nominations Thursday, earning ten nods apiece for the top prize in the US movie industry.
A giant screen shows the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, at the 86th Academy Awards nominations announcement in Beverly Hills, California January 16, 2014. Crime caper "American Hustle" and 3D space spectacular "Gravity" topped the Oscar nominations list Thursday with 10 each, followed by historical drama "12 Years a Slave" with nine. They were among nine movies nominated for best picture for the March 2 Academy Awards, along with "Captain Phillips," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Her," "Nebraska," "Philomena," and "The Wolf of Wall Street." The Oscars will be held on March 2. AFP PHOTO
The David O Russell comedy and Alfonso Cuaron's outer space drama narrowly beat out "12 Years A Slave", which earned nine nominations.
"American Hustle" and "12 Years A Slave", which came out on top of the Golden Globe awards on Sunday, will both compete for best picture, best supporting actor and actress and best director. Both were also nominated for screenplay, costume, film editing and production design awards.
"Gravity" is also up for best picture and best director. Sandra Bullock's role as a stranded astronaut earned her a best actress nomination and the film was also recognised for visual effects, sound mixing and editing, film editing, production design, costume design and music.
The other best picture nominees are maritime thriller "Captain Phillips", Aids drama "Dallas Buyers Club", road trip comedy "Nebraska", as well as "Wolf of Wall Street", "Philomena" and the futuristic rom-com "Her".
"American Hustle's" Amy Adams was nominated for best actress, while her colleague Christian Bale will battle it out for the best actor prize with Chiwetel Ejiofor of "12 Years A Slave", along with Bruce Dern (Nebraska), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street).
The other best actress nominees are Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Judi Dench (Philomena) and Meryl Streep (August: Osage County).
Along with Cuaron and Russell, the best director nominees are Steve McQueen for "12 Years A Slave", Martin Scorsese for "The Wolf of Wall Street", and Alexander Payne for "Nebraska".
The candidates for best foreign film include "Omar" (Palestine), "The Great Beauty" (Italy), "The Hunt" (Denmark), "The Broken Circle Breakdown" (Belgium) and "The Missing Picture" (Cambodia).
The 86th Academy Awards will be held on March 2.