This year could end up being one an Academy Awards ceremony for the record books. Despite the fact that Ben Affleck isn't nominated for Best Director at the 85th Academy Awards while his film Argo was nominated for Best Picture, the director and historical drama took home honors at the 70th Golden Globes. Now it looks like the film might be making a big run for Best Picture as the 22nd Annual Producers Guild of America Awards have just awarded the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures to Argo. Awards were also handed out for documentary and animated films also.
Here's a list of all the film winners from the 22nd PGA Awards via The Wrap:
Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award:
Argo
Producers: Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov
PGA Producer of the Year Award in Animation:
Wreck-It Ralph
Producer: Clark Spencer
PGA Producer of the Year Award in Documentaries:
Searching for Sugar Man
Producer: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
I'm glad to see Wreck-It Ralph and Searching for Sugar Man get some love, but the real shake-up here is Argo winning the top prize. In the entire history of the Academy Awards, there have only been three instances when a Best Picture winner didn't have its director nominated for an Oscar as well. The last time it happened was with Driving Miss Daisy in 1990 and it had been 70 years since such an occurrence.
However, PGA award has consistently been a reliable predictor of what will take home Best Picture at the Oscars and in 23 years, the PGA winner has also won Best Picture 16 times. The Oscars could always go their own way and not give Best Picture to Argo though. Either way, it sounds like the race for Best Picture is going to be very exciting and we'll be waiting to hear what wins on the 85th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 24th on ABC starting at 7PM (EST) / 4PM (PST). Will Argo win Best Picture?