George Clooney will fancy his chances heading into the business-end of the 2012 Awards season, after his movies picked up a further two nominations at the Producers Guild of America Awards. The actor, 50, has been lauded for his performances in family drama The Descendants and political saga The Ides of March - with both movies up for the top prize at the Producers Guild.
Other nominees for Best Movie include silent flick The Artist - which has stepped up its campaign to land the same gong at the Academy Awards in February - and comedy Bridesmaids, a surprise hit in 2011. Steven Spielberg's take on the West End stage sensation War Horse and Martin Scorsese's magical family flick Hugo are also in contention. Notably absent from the shortlist was Terrence Malick's avant-garde Palme d'Or winner The Tree of Life, starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt. After its success at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie was talked up as a possible Oscar winner, though the buzz has since appeared to subside. The nominations for The Descendants and The Ides of March strengthen Clooney's case for the serious honours come the Academy Awards - and his recent success appears to support the view that it will be Clooney and The Descendants taking on Jean Dujardin and The Artist for Best Actor/Best Film respectively.
The Producers Guild of America also announced its television film and series nominees this week, with Julian Fellowes British drama Downtown Abbey and Kate Winslet's Mildred Pierce getting nods. Controversial biopic The Kennedys and Too Big To Fail made up the list.