Fresh off their Golden Globe wins, Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Inarritu and veteran British director Ridley Scott were among those nominated on Tuesday for Directors Guild of America (DGA) awards – one of the strongest indicators of success at the Oscars. Nevertheless, if the Best Director Oscar field matches with the DGA, it will be no surprise at all – and likely reflect that Spotlight, The Martian, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Big Short are indeed the five biggest contenders left.
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“The Martian”, starring Matt Damon, won two awards at the Golden Globes on Sunday – best comedy film and best actor in a comedy for Damon.
This is the first DGA nom for Miller, McCarthy, and McKay, and the fourth each for Scott and Iñárritu, who won last year’s DGA top honors for Birdman.
The DGA Awards have traditionally been a good pointer for the director and best picture nominations at the Oscars, but as ever it’s worth pointing out that nearly nothing can predict how the various Academy groups will lean once voting begins.
The 78-year-old Scott has however never triumphed at the DGA awards or at the Oscars. Those are Rob Marshall for Chicago (2002) and Ben Affleck for Argo (2012).
This year, the DGA also added an award for first-time directors.
The category also includes British filmmaker Alex Garland for sci-fi thriller Ex Machina, Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes for Son of Saul, Brazilian newcomer Fernando Coimbra for A Wolf at the Door, and Marielle Heller for coming-of-age tale The Diary of a Teenage Girl.
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The victor will be announced February 6 at the DGA Awards, hosted by Jane Lynch at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
