Saturn Awards Nominees Announced

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films has announced the nominations for the 34th Annual Saturn Awards. Leading the nominations this year is the groundbreaking film, “300” with 10 nominations. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” follows close behind with 9 nominations and Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is represented with 8 nominations.

A trio of fantastic adventures: “The Golden Compass”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”, and “Spider-Man 3” received 4 nominations each, while “The Bourne Ultimatum”, “Eastern Promises”, “Enchanted”, “Grindhouse”, “The Mist”, “No Country For Old Men”, “Stardust”, and “There Will Be Blood” each received 3 nominations.

Warner Bros. leads the nominations this year with a total of 23. Paramount follows closely behind with 22 nominations (combining the releases of Paramount, DreamWorks/Paramount, and Paramount Vantage). Buena Vista received a total of 10 nominations, with Sony Pictures capturing 9 nominations. New Line Cinema received 6 nominations. Dimension Films / MGM is represented with 5 nominations.

In television, “Lost” dominated with 7 nominations. Showtime’s “Dexter” carved an impressive 5 nominations and “Heroes” soared with 4 nominations.The organization also announced two special awards to be given this year: Guillermo del Toro will receive the coveted George Pal Memorial Award. Author Tim Lucas has been singled out to receive a Special Achievement Award for his 2007 book: Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark. This critical study of the film work of Director Mario Bava is a life long project and labor of love from author Lucas who spent over 20 years seeing the completion and eventual publication of the book, ably supported by his wife, Donna Lucas.

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is a non-profit organization devoted to honoring, recognizing and promoting genre entertainment. The organization was founded in 1972 by film historian Dr. Donald A. Reed. It is currently headed by film enthusiast Robert Holguin. This year’s show will take place on Tuesday, June 24, in Universal City, California.