Jackson, Eastwood Among Directors Guild Nominees
Coppola, Ross, Weir Also Get Nods
POSTED: 4:18 p.m. EST January 6, 2004
UPDATED: 4:40 p.m. EST January 6, 2004
The race for the Best Director Oscar became much clearer Tuesday with the announcement of the five feature film nominees for the 56th annual Directors Guild of America awards in Los Angeles.
Leading the pack was "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson (pictured, left), who received his third consecutive nomination for the trilogy with "The Return of the King." The fantasy-epic based on the books of author J.R.R. Tolkien also yielded Jackson DGA nods for "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) and "The Two Towers" (2002).
Jackson went on to grab a Best Director's Oscar nomination for "The Fellowship of the Ring," but was overlooked for "The Two Towers."
Clint Eastwood received his second DGA nomination Tuesday, this time for the crime drama "Mystic River." He previously was nominated and won the DGA award for the 1992 Western "Unforgiven." Eastwood went on to win the Best Director Oscar for the film and also won a Best Picture statuette as the film's producer.
Film legend Francis Ford Coppola's daughter Sofia Coppola also got a DGA nomination, which came for the bittersweet comedy-drama "Lost in Translation." It was the first DGA nomination for the actress-turned-director.
Also a first time nominee was Gary Ross, who got the notice for the Depression-era horseracing drama "Seabiscuit."
Rounding out the field of five nominees was Peter Weir for "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." Weir was previously nominated for "Witness" (1985), "Dead Poets Society" (1989) and "The Truman Show" (1998).
The DGA Awards is perhaps the most accurate predictor of which filmmaker will go on to win Oscar gold. Of the past 55 winners, only six recipients did not go on to win the Best Director Academy Award.
The most recent DGA winner that failed to capture the Best Director Oscar was "Chicago" helmer Rob Marshall, who lost out to "The Pianist" director Roman Polanski.
Other winners of the DGA who didn't go on to win the Oscar include Anthony Harvey in 1968 for "The Lion in the Winter" (Carol Reed won the Oscar for "Oliver!"); Francis Ford Coppola for 1972's "The Godfather" (Bob Fosse won for "Cabaret"); Steven Spielberg for 1985's "The Color Purple" (Sydney Pollack won for "Out of Africa"); Ron Howard for 1995's "Apollo 13" (Mel Gibson won for "Braveheart") and Ang Lee for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Steven Soderbergh won for "Traffic").
DGA president Michael Apted announced the nominations.
"I offer my hearty congratulations to all the nominees for their outstanding achievements. A director has the responsibilities of shaping a story, creating a visual language, and bringing all elements of the filmmaking process together," Apted said in a statement. "These five individuals and their films clearly demonstrate how a director's skill, when combined with vision, can create excellence in filmmaking."
The DGA nods are slightly out of sync with the finalists for the Producers Guild of America Best Picture award, which were announced Monday in Los Angeles.
PGA nominees that did not have their directors nominated were "Cold Mountain" (directed by Anthony Minghella) and "The Last Samurai" (Edward Zwick). Transversely, Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" did not get a PGA nod.
The DGA Awards for both film and television will be handed out in Los Angeles Feb. 7. The DGA announced Monday that it will be honoring filmmaker Mike Nichols with its Lifetime Achievement Award during the ceremony
Leading the pack was "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson (pictured, left), who received his third consecutive nomination for the trilogy with "The Return of the King." The fantasy-epic based on the books of author J.R.R. Tolkien also yielded Jackson DGA nods for "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) and "The Two Towers" (2002).
Jackson went on to grab a Best Director's Oscar nomination for "The Fellowship of the Ring," but was overlooked for "The Two Towers."
Clint Eastwood received his second DGA nomination Tuesday, this time for the crime drama "Mystic River." He previously was nominated and won the DGA award for the 1992 Western "Unforgiven." Eastwood went on to win the Best Director Oscar for the film and also won a Best Picture statuette as the film's producer.
Film legend Francis Ford Coppola's daughter Sofia Coppola also got a DGA nomination, which came for the bittersweet comedy-drama "Lost in Translation." It was the first DGA nomination for the actress-turned-director.
Also a first time nominee was Gary Ross, who got the notice for the Depression-era horseracing drama "Seabiscuit."
Rounding out the field of five nominees was Peter Weir for "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." Weir was previously nominated for "Witness" (1985), "Dead Poets Society" (1989) and "The Truman Show" (1998).
The DGA Awards is perhaps the most accurate predictor of which filmmaker will go on to win Oscar gold. Of the past 55 winners, only six recipients did not go on to win the Best Director Academy Award.
The most recent DGA winner that failed to capture the Best Director Oscar was "Chicago" helmer Rob Marshall, who lost out to "The Pianist" director Roman Polanski.
Other winners of the DGA who didn't go on to win the Oscar include Anthony Harvey in 1968 for "The Lion in the Winter" (Carol Reed won the Oscar for "Oliver!"); Francis Ford Coppola for 1972's "The Godfather" (Bob Fosse won for "Cabaret"); Steven Spielberg for 1985's "The Color Purple" (Sydney Pollack won for "Out of Africa"); Ron Howard for 1995's "Apollo 13" (Mel Gibson won for "Braveheart") and Ang Lee for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Steven Soderbergh won for "Traffic").
DGA president Michael Apted announced the nominations.
"I offer my hearty congratulations to all the nominees for their outstanding achievements. A director has the responsibilities of shaping a story, creating a visual language, and bringing all elements of the filmmaking process together," Apted said in a statement. "These five individuals and their films clearly demonstrate how a director's skill, when combined with vision, can create excellence in filmmaking."
The DGA nods are slightly out of sync with the finalists for the Producers Guild of America Best Picture award, which were announced Monday in Los Angeles.
PGA nominees that did not have their directors nominated were "Cold Mountain" (directed by Anthony Minghella) and "The Last Samurai" (Edward Zwick). Transversely, Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" did not get a PGA nod.
The DGA Awards for both film and television will be handed out in Los Angeles Feb. 7. The DGA announced Monday that it will be honoring filmmaker Mike Nichols with its Lifetime Achievement Award during the ceremonyCopyright 2004 by Lifewhile.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
