Sci-fi fantasy Blade Runner 2049, WWII drama Dunkirk and Cold War fairy tale The Shape of Water are among the nominees for the Art Directors Guild's Excellence in Production Design Awards, which will be handed out Jan. 27 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland.
For the ADG awards, live action features are divided into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary.
In the category for a period film, Dunkirk was nominated alongside Darkest Hour, Murder on the Orient Express, The Post and The Shape of Water. The nominees in the fantasy category are Beauty and the Beast, Blade Runner 2049, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, War for the Planet of the Apes and Wonder Woman. And the contenders for the award for a contemporary film are Downsizing, Get Out, Lady Bird, Logan and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Sarah Greenwood is a double nominee, in the period film category for Darkest Hour and in the fantasy category, for Beauty and the Beast.
Over the past five years, the winner of the ADG's period film category went on to win the Oscar in production design twice, in 2013 for The Great Gatsby and in 2014 for The Grand Budapest Hotel. The production design Oscar went to the winner of the fantasy category, Mad Max: Fury Road, in 2015. And last year, La La Land picked up the ADG award in the category for a contemporary film on the way to winning the Oscar for production design.
This year for the first time, ADG will present an award for feature animation. The nominees are Cars 3, Coco, Despicable Me 3, The Lego Batman Movie and Loving Vincent.
Underscoring its move to recognize animation, ADG is also presenting its William Cameron Menzies Award to Ron Clements and John Musker, directors of Disney animated films such as The Little Mermaid and most recently, Moana.
Also during the ceremony, Norm Newberry, John Moffitt, James J. Murakami and Martin Kline will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards; Kathleen Kennedy will be honored with the Cinematic Imagery Award; and Matthew Loeb will get the Leadership Award.
