Ralph Fiennes in a still from The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Comic confection The Grand Budapest Hotel is the surprise front runner for the British Academy Film Awards, while English acting darlings Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch are competing in the best actor category.
Wes Anderson's Hotel received 11 nominations on January 9, including best picture and best director. Actor Ralph Fiennes was nominated for best actor as the unflappable concierge of a chaotic European hostelry.
Acting nominees also include Michael Keaton, as a washed up actor aiming for a comeback in Birdman. The film directed by Alejandro Inarritu was nominated in 10 categories, as was James Marsh's The Theory of Everything, which stars Eddie as physicist Stephen Hawking.
Eddie said his acting nomination was "beyond imagination." He insisted he feels no rivalry with Cumberbatch, nominated for playing World War II code breaker Alan Turing in
The Imitation Game. That film received nine nominations.
"One can try and create a rivalry but it will not happen!" Eddie said from Los Angeles. "We both absolutely understand people wanting to pitch us against each other, but we are old, old friends and I think he is the most wonderful actor. He is sensational in
The Imitation Gameand I love watching him."
Jake Gyllenhaal is also nominated for his performance as a sleazy journalist in
Nightcrawler. But there was no recognition for Timothy Spall, whose performance as artist JMW Turner in
Mr. Turner took the best actor prize at Cannes.
Best actress contenders are Felicity Jones for
The Theory of Everything, Amy Adams for
Big Eyes, Julianne Moore for
Still Alice, Rosamund Pike for
Gone Girl and Reese Witherspoon for
Wild.
Other front runners include Richard Linklater's decade spanning
Boyhood and Damien Chazelle's drumming drama
Whiplash, with five nominations each.
The best picture nominees are
Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game and
The Theory of Everything.
The separate category of best British picture include
The Imitation Game and
The Theory of Everything alongside tense Northern Ireland drama
'71, alien chiller
Under the Skin and animated ursine adventure
Paddington.
Winners of the awards, known as BAFTAs, will be decided by 6,500 members of the British film academy and announced at London's Royal Opera House on February 8.
The British prizes are seen as an indicator of likely success at Hollywood's Academy Awards, whose nominees are announced next week.
Complete list of nominations:
Adapted ScreenplayThe Theory Of Everything, Anthony Mccarten
The Imitation Game, Graham Moore
American Sniper, Jason Hall
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
Paddington, Paul King
Animated Film in 2015The Boxtrolls, Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable
The Lego Movie, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Big Hero 6, Don Hall, Chris Williams
British Short Animation in 2015Monkey Love Experiments, Ainslie Henderson, Cam Fraser, Will Anderson
The Bigger Picture, Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka
My Dad, Marcus Armitage
British Short Film in 2015The Karman Line, Campbell Beaton, Dawn King, Tiernan Hanby, Oscar Sharp
Boogaloo And Graham, Brian J. Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Slap, Islay Bell-Webb, Michelangelo Fano, Nick Rowland
Emotional Fusebox, Michael Berliner, Rachel Tunnard
Three Brothers, Aleem Khan, Matthieu De Braconier, Stephanie Paeplow
Cinematography in 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Robert Yeoman
Ida, Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski
Interstellar, Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner, Dick Pope
Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki
Costume Design in 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Milena Canonero
The Imitation Game, Sammy Sheldon Differ
The Theory Of Everything, Steven Noble
Mr. Turner, Jacqueline Durran
Into The Woods, Colleen Atwood
Director in 2015Birdman, Alejandro G. InaRritu
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson
The Theory Of Everything, James Marsh
Boyhood, Richard Linklater
Whiplash, Damien Chazelle
Documentary in 201520 Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Gil Friesen
20,000 Days On Earth, Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
Finding Vivian Maier, John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Virunga, Orlando Von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara
Citizenfour, Laura Poitras
EE Rising Star in 2015Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jack O'Connell
Shailene Woodley
Margot Robbie
Miles Teller
Editing in 2015Birdman, Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Barney Pilling
The Theory Of Everything, Jinx Godfrey
The Imitation Game, William Goldenberg
Nightcrawler, John Gilroy
Whiplash, Tom Cross
Film in 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
The Theory Of Everything, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony Mccarten
Birdman, Alejandro G. InaRritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole
The Imitation Game, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
Boyhood, Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
Film not in the English Language in 2015v
Ida, Pawel Pawlikowski, Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzieciol, Ewa Puszczynska
The Lunchbox, Ritesh Batra, Arun Rangachari, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga
Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd
Leviathan, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov
Trash, Stephen Daldry, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kris Thykier
Leading Actor in 2015Eddie Redmayne,
The Theory Of EverythingRalph Fiennes,
The Grand Budapest HotelBenedict Cumberbatch,
The Imitation GameJake Gyllenhaal,
NightcrawlerMichael Keaton,
BirdmanLeading Actress in 2015Felicity Jones,
The Theory Of EverythingJulianne Moore,
Still AliceReese Witherspoon,
WildAmy Adams,
Big EyesRosamund Pike,
Gone GirlMake-Up And Hair in 2015Guardians Of The Galaxy, Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
Into The Woods, Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland
Mr. Turner - Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Frances Hannon
The Theory Of Everything, Jan Sewell
Original Music in 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar, Hans Zimmer
Birdman, Antonio Sanchez
The Theory Of Everything, Joann JoHannsson
Under The Skin, Mica Levi
Original Screenplay in 2015Birdman, Alejandro G. InaRritu, NicolaS Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson
Boyhood, Richard Linklater
Whiplash, Damien Chazelle
Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy
Outstanding British Film in 2015'71, Yann Demange, Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch, Gregory Burke
The Theory Of Everything, James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony Mccarten
Under The Skinv, Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Nick Wechsler, Walter Campbell
Pride, Matthew Warchus, David Livingstone, Stephen Beresford
The Imitation Game, Morten Tyldum, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman, Graham Moore
Paddington, Paul King, David Heyman
Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer in 2015Stephen Beresford, David Livingstone,
PrideGregory Burke, Yann Demange,
'71 Elaine Constantine,
Northern SoulHong Khaou,
LiltingPaul Katis, Andrew De Lotbiniere,
Kajaki: The True StoryProduction Design in 2015The Grand Budapest Hotel, Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game, Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Mr. Turner, Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts
Interstellar, Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Big Eyes, Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau
Sound in 2015Birdman, Thomas Varga, Martin HernaNdez, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano
American Sniper, Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
The Imitation Game, John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak
Whiplash, Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann
Special Visual Effects in 2015The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Guardians Of The Galaxy, Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett
X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer
Interstellar, Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley
Supporting Actor in 2015J.K. Simmons,
WhiplashMark Ruffalo,
FoxcatcherSteve Carell,
FoxcatcherEdward Norton,
BirdmanEthan Hawke,
BoyhoodSupporting Actress in 2015Keira Knightley,
The Imitation GameImelda Staunton,
PrideEmma Stone,
BirdmanPatricia Arquette,
BoyhoodRene Russo,
Nightcrawler