2016 Oscars: VFX Shortlist Includes ‘Star Wars’, ‘Ant-Man;’ Snubs Flops ‘Pan’ and ‘In the Heart of the Sea’

The Academy has released its shortlist of Visual Effects Oscar nominee hopefuls and they include the frontrunners like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant but snubbed some high profile box office flops like Pan and In the Heart of the Sea (both from Warner Bros). Two Marvel movies made the cut (Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man) and the indie sci-fi hit Ex Machina. The Spring release has been given new life with critics awards this month.

The 10 films that will vie for a spot in the Visual Effects Oscar race are:

“Ant-Man”
“Avengers: Age of Ultron”
“Ex Machina”
“Jurassic World”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
“The Martian”
“The Revenant”
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
“Tomorrowland”
“The Walk”

The Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist.  All members of the Visual Effects Branch will now be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 9, 2016.  Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscarconsideration.
The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The 88th Oscars^® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre^® at Hollywood & Highland Center^® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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