‘Big Short,’ ‘Bridge of Spies,’ ‘Straight Outta Compton’ are among Zanuck Award nominees

The producers of “The Big Short,” “Bridge of Spies,” “The Martian” and “Spotlight” earned nominations Tuesday morning for the Producers Guild of America’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award for outstanding producer of theatrical motion pictures.

The PGA nominated 10 motion pictures for the Zanuck Award.

Also vying for the award are “Brooklyn,” “Ex Machina,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Revenant,” “Sicario” and “Straight Outta Compton.”

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Besides some surprises among the nominees, including “Ex Machina,” there were some surprising omissions, most notably the acclaimed “Carol,” which has won several critics awards and is in the running for the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

The PGA Awards have become one of the leading bellwethers for the best picture Oscar. The last time the PGA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences disagreed was nine years ago when the guild chose “Little Miss Sunshine” and the Oscar went to “The Departed.”

Still, films that earn the top PGA nomination don’t always receive an Oscar nomination for best film. Last year, PGA nominees “Nightcrawler” and “Gone Girl” failed to earn nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. And Oscar best film-nominated Selma” was shut out from the PGA list.

In contention for outstanding producer of animated theatrical motion pictures are “Anomalisa,” “The Good Dinosaur,” “Inside Out,” “Minions,” and “The Peanuts Movie.”

On the television side, the nominees for the David L. Wolper Award for outstanding producer of long-form television are “American Crime,” “American Horror Story: Hotel,” “Fargo,” “True Detective” and “A Very Murray Christmas.”

Winners will be announced Jan. 23 at the Hyatt Regeny Century Plaza Hotel.