'The Revenant' leads 88th annual Oscar nominations with 12, including Best Picture

Director Alejandro Inarritu's grueling drama "The Revenant" scored a leading 12 Oscar nominations today, with George Miller's apocalyptic "Mad Max: Fury Road" on its heels with 10 nods, and both were well ahead of other contenders.

The other best-picture nominees are "The Big Short," "Bridge of Spies," "Brooklyn," "The Martian," "Room" and "Spotlight."

While eight films were nominated, there are only five slots for directors and that slate of Oscar hopefuls includes Inarritu and Miller, along with Adam McKay for his real estate-crash drama "The Big Short," Lenny Abrahamson for "Room," about a mother and young son held captive and Tom McCarthy for "Spotlight," the story of the Boston Globe's investigation into pedophilia by Catholic priests.

"The Martian," which trailed the top two films with seven nominations, picked up a best-actor nomination for Matt Damon, who was joined by Bryan Cranston ("Trumbo"), Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Revenant"), Michael Fassbender ("Steve Jobs") and Eddie Redmayne ("The Danish Girl") in that coveted category.

Best-actress nominees include Cate Blanchett for "Carol," Brie Larson for "Room," Jennifer Lawrence for "Joy," Charlotte Rampling for "45 Years" and Saoirse Ronan for "Brooklyn."

Alicia Vikander picked up a supporting actress nomination for her role as the wife of a transgender pioneer in "The Danish Girl," though some viewed her as a lead in the film. Other actresses nominated in the supporting category
include Jennifer Jason Leigh ("The Hateful Eight"), Rooney Mara ("Carol"), Rachel McAdams ("Spotlight") and Kate Winslet for "Steve Jobs."

Actors vying for the golden statuette for supporting roles include Christian Bale ("The Big Short") Tom Hardy ("The Revenant"), Mark Ruffalo ("Spotlight"), Mark Rylance ("Bridge of Spies") and Sylvester Stallone
("Creed").

The nominations were announced by directors Guillermo del Toro and Ang Lee, actor John Krasinski and Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

Here is a complete list of nominations announced today for the 88th Academy Awards:

Best Picture

Best Actor

Best Actress

Supporting Actor

Supporting Actress

Animated Feature Film

Cinematography

Costume Design

Directing

Documentary Feature

Documentary Short

Film Editing

Foreign Language Film

Makeup and Hairstyling

Original Song

Original Score

Production Design

Short Film (Animated)

Short Film (Live Action)

Sound Editing

Sound Mixing

Visual Effects

Adapted Screenplay

Original Screenplay

The Oscars will be presented at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb. 28, with Chris Rock hosting for the second time, and aired on ABC.

The ceremony will be televised in more than 225 countries.

Copyright 2016 FOX 11 Los Angeles : Download our mobile app for breaking news alerts or to watch FOX 11 News | Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and YouTube .