Oscar 2018 nominations: The Shape of Water sweeps

Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk are some of the top nominated movies at this year’s Oscars.

The Shape of Water was predicted to sweep this year’s awards, earning a total of 13 nominations. Guillermo del Toro’s movie about the whimsical romance between a woman who can’t speak and a giant fish creature has been the darling contender at other award shows this season, including the most recent Golden Globes. Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins all took home nominations for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting actor, respectively. Guillermo del Toro also earned a nomination for outstanding achievement in Directing.

The Shape of Water will go head-to-head with numerous popular movies from 2017, all of whom will be tough contenders for the genre-bending film. Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri earned seven nominations, including in most of the major categories. Three Billboards, a movie about one woman’s attempt to get justice for the brutal murder of her daughter, has been sweeping this award show season. The film won multiple awards at the Golden Globes, and the cast took home the recent accolade for Best Ensemble cast at the Screen Actor Guild awards.

It was an outstanding year for genre films for this year’s nominations, too. Star Wars: The Last Jedi earned nods for outstanding achievement in Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Score and Visual Effects. While The Last Jedi’s nominations aren’t too surprising considering the franchise’s presence at the award show in the past, Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver also earned three nominations for achievement in Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Editing.

Dunkirk, Nolan’s movie about the evacuation of over 300,000 allies during World War II, garnered eight nominations overall. Dunkirk was nominated for outstanding achievement in Production Design, Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Score and Film Editing. The film also scored nominations for Best Picture and outstanding achievement in directing for Christopher Nolan. Blade Runner 2049 was also acknowledged by the Academy in some of its most technical categories, including outstanding achievement in Production Design, Cinematography, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

The full list of nominees can be read over at the official Oscars site. The Oscars will air on Sunday, March 4 at 8:30 pm ET on ABC. Late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel will host.