Awards Race: Joker scores most BAFTA noms with 11; lands PGA nod but snubbed by DGA

Days after Joker landed star Joaquin Phoenix a Golden Globe for Best Actor and mere hours after the comic-based (in character only) film landed itself a nomination from the Writers Guild Awards, even more honors are coming to Todd Phillips and crew.

First were the British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, which danced to Joker's tune so in-step that the DC film led its nominees with 11 total nods. Scoring Best Film and Director nominations (alongside Bong Joon-ho's biting social satire Parasite), Phoenix and the screenplay also earned honors. It rounded things out with a slew of technical nominations: score, casting, editing, production design, makeup and hair, sound, and cinematography.

Other genre films that showed in a big way were the aforementioned Parasite, arthouse horror The Lighthouse (cinematography), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (score, sound, and special visual effects). This latter category also honored Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King, while the animated film nominees included Toy Story 4, Frozen II, Klaus, and A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.

Next, the Producers Guild announced its awards nominations and they were no surprise: Joker, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson's whodunnit Knives Out, and Parasite all scored Outstanding Film nominations. The animated side was a bit different than the earlier BAFTA list, with Abominable, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and Missing Link joining the Disney/Pixar duo of Toy Story 4 and Frozen II.

The category-light awards also touched on TV, throwing Game of Thrones, Chernobyl, and Watchmen season nods while touting the excellence of the Black Mirror episode "Striking Vipers." 

The Directors Guild Awards deviated from the awards season current by listing plenty of fresh names on its list of feature directors — but snubbing Joker helmer Todd Phillips. This bodes ill for the supervillain film's Oscar chances, as the DGAs are often a potent bellwether for the prestigious Academy Awards.

Parasite's Bong Joon-ho and Atlantics' Mati Diop were honored with feature-film nominations (the latter of which helmed a supernatural romance for Netflix), while Chernobyl, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Ghostwriter, and A Series of Unfortunate Events all landed TV nominations.

The BAFTA winners will be announced on Feb. 2. The PGA Awards drop on Jan. 18, while the DGA Awards follow on Jan. 25.