'The Shape of the Water' leads Oscar nominations

'The Shape of Water' leads this year's Academy Awards with 13 nominations.

Guillermo del Toro's romantic creature feature is up for a host of top Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress for Sally Hawkins and Best Supporting Actor for Richard Jenkins.

'The Shape of Water' goes head-to-head against the coming-of-age drama 'Call Me By Your Name', 'Darkest Hour', 'Dunkirk', 'Get Out', 'Lady Bird', 'Phantom Thread', 'The Post' and 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' in the prestigious Best Picture category.

Del Toro - who won the Best Director at the Golden Globes this year - will have to beat the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan and Jordan Peele to much coveted Best Director accolade.

Gary Oldman has been nominated for Best Actor for his role as World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 'Darkest Hour' alongside Timothee Chalamet for 'Call Me By Your Name', Daniel Day-Lewis for his final film 'Phantom Thread', Daniel Kaluuya for 'Get Out' and Denzel Washington for 'Roman J. Israel, Esq'.

For Best Actress, Hawkins goes up against Frances McDormand for 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri', Margot Robbie for her portrayal of disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding in 'I, Tonya', 'Lady Bird' star Saoirse Ronan and 'The Post' star Meryl Streep.

'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' received nine nominations including two nods in the Best Supporting Actor list going to Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell - who won the award at the Golden Globes.

Nolan's Second World War epic 'Dunkirk' received seven nods.

Sir Ridley Scott's John Paul Getty biopic 'All The Money in the World' lost out to a Best Picture nomination but Christopher Plummer, who stars as the millionaire, has been tipped for Best Supporting Actor.

The nominations were announced on Tuesday (23.01.18) by Tiffany Haddish and Andy Serkis following an announcement by Academy president John Bailey.

For this year's ceremony, Jimmy Kimmel is returning to host the Academy Awards which are set to take place at the Dolby Theatre, in Hollywood, on Sunday March 4.

Academy Awards 2018 nominations:

Best Picture:
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actor:
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J Israel, Esq

Best Actress:
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

Best Supporting Actress:
Mary J Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Supporting Actor:
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Animated Film:
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

Best Director:
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out

Best Documentary:
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

Best Documentary Short:
Edith+Eddie
Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

Best Foreign Language Film:
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

Best Song:
Mighty River, Mudbound
The Mystery of Love, Call Me by Your Name
Remember Me, Coco
Stand Up for Something, Marshall
This Is Me, The Greatest Showman

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Call Me by Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly's Game
Mudbound

Best Original Screenplay:
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Cinematography:
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

Best Costume Design:
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul 

Best Editing:
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Makeup and Hair:
Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder 

Best Score:
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Production Design:
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

Best Animated Short:
Dear Basketball
Garden Party
LouNegative Space
Revolting Rhymes

Best Live Action Short:
DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O'Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All of Us

Best Sound Editing:
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi 

Best Sound Mixing:
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi 

Best Visual Effects:
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

This article was first published on BANG Showbiz and is republished here with permission.