Academy Sets Visual Effects Shortlist

A scene from "2012."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films have been selected as semifinalists for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 82nd Academy Awards. Expected frontrunners like "Avatar," "Star Trek" and "2012" made the cut, while Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" was the most surprising omission.

In early January, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who selected the semifinalists, will narrow the list to seven. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films on Thursday, January 21. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The shortlisted films are listed below in alphabetical order:

“Angels & Demons”
“Avatar”
“Coraline”
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
“District 9”
“G-Force”
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“Sherlock Holmes”
“Star Trek”
“Terminator Salvation”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
“2012”
“Watchmen”
“Where the Wild Things Are”