by Julia Pierrepont III

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The 26th annual SAG Awards, given out by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), announced its 2020 nominations in 15 film and TV categories here on Wednesday.

Many SAG-AFTRA members are also Academy members, so their votes pack a punch come Oscar time. The SAG Awards are generally considered a strong predictor of who will pick up Oscar nominations for performing.

The strongest indicator for a Best Picture Oscar nod is SAG's Best Ensemble Cast Category. In the last 20 years, only three films have won the Academy's Best Picture that didn't snag a SAG Best Ensemble Cast nomination first -- "Green Book," "The Shape of Water" and "Braveheart."

This year's nominations for Best Ensemble include, "The Irishman," "Bombshell," "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," "Jojo Rabbit" and the South Korean black comedy thriller "Parasite," so the odds have it that one of those five will bring home Oscar gold. However, there are other favorites that could edge their way to an Oscar nomination -- "Marriage Story," "The Farewell," "The Two Popes," "Little Women," "Joker" and "Ford v Ferrari."

Netflix is coming on strong with three films all in award contention that could be nominated for Best Picture this year, namely "The Irishman," "Marriage Story" and "The Two Popes."

SAG Best Actor nominees, Leonardo DiCaprio ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"), Adam Driver ("Marriage Story") and Joaquin Phoenix ("Joker") are also hot favorites for an Academy nod, but the two other top spots are a dead heat between Eddie Murphy ("Dolemite Is My Name"), Antonio Banderas ("Pain and Glory") and the SAG's other two nominees, Christian Bale ("Ford v Ferrari") and Taron Egerton ("Rocketman").

Of SAG's Best Actress nominees, Cynthia Erivo ("Harriet"), Scarlett Johansson ("Marriage Story"), Charlize Theron ("Bombshell"), and Renee Zellweger ("Judy") are also Oscar favorites, though Awkwafina ("The Farewell"), Saoirse Ronan ("Little Women") and Lupita Nyong'o ("Us") can't be counted out.

The Supporting Actor category is going to see Brad Pitt ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"), two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks ("A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"), and Oscar winner Al Pacino ("The Irishman") all in contention at the SAG, and likely to pull in Oscar nods as well.

"Bombshell" stars Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie will be duking it out against Laura Dern ("Marriage Story"), Scarlett Johansson ("Jojo Rabbit") and Jennifer Lopez ("Hustlers"), to see who will be crowned for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

The 26th annual SAG Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Jan. 19, 2020. Enditem

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