Is this Leo's year? The Revenant leads the way with 12 nominations as the Oscar 2016 contenders are revealed... but every acting nod is white and all five directors in the running are male
- Leonardo DiCaprio's The Revenant received 12 nods, including Best Actor, Best Picture and Best Director
- Actor, 41, previously nominated for five Oscars but NEVER won
- Mad Max: Fury Road scored 10 nods, followed by The Martian with seven and Bridge of Spies with six
- DiCaprio battling it out against Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender and Eddie Redmayne for Best Actor
- Cate Blanchett, Brie Larson, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling and Saoirse Ronan nominated for Best Actress
- Joining The Revenant in Best Picture category are The Big Short, Bridge Of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Room and Spotlight
- Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg and Star Wars: The Force Awakens snubbed by the Academy
- Every acting nod went is white and all five directors in the running are male
- The star-studded ceremony will be held on February 28 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California
- See our full Oscars coverage at www.dailymail.co.uk/oscars
The Revenant has scored 12 nominations for this year's Oscars, with nods in the Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director categories.
The nominations for the 88th Academy Awards were revealed on Thursday morning in Los Angeles, and cheers were heard throughout the theatre asLeonardo DiCaprio was revealed to have received a Best Actor nod.
The 41-year-old Hollywood has previously been nominated for five Academy Awards and has never won, but he is hotly-tipped to finally win this year.
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Is this his year? Leonardo DiCaprio has scored a Best Actor nomination in the 2016 Academy Awards, for his role in The Revenant
Impressive: Leonardo's portrayal as fur trapper Hugh Glass in The Revenant has been highly lauded - the film has scored 12 nominations
Joining brutal frontier saga The Revenant in the Best Picture category are The Big Short, Bridge Of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Room and Spotlight.
And in the Best Actor arena, Leonardo will be up against Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl).
This year's Best Actress nominees are Cate Blanchett (Carol), Brie Larson (Room), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).
This year's Best Actress nominees are Cate Blanchett (Carol), Brie Larson (Room), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).
However, it has been noted by movie fans and critics that there is a severe lack of diversity among this year's litany of hopeful winners.
Only white actors have been nominated in the leading categories, and all of the Best Director candidates are males.
Last year, the Academy was accused of lacking diversity in its slate of Oscar nominees - with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trending on social media - and within minutes of the nominations being revealed on Thursday morning, it happened again on Twitter.
Fighting it out: Eddie Redmayne will be up for his second Oscar, this time for his role in The Danish Girl
Fourth time's the charm? Three-time Oscar nominee (and one-time winner) Jennifer Lawrence has been nominated in the Best Actress category for her role in Joy
One of the favourites: Cate Blanchett has scored herself a Best Actress nod for her role in lesbian romance drama Carol - which is also
Up for a top prize: Charlotte Rampling (left) and Saiorse Ronan (right) have received nods in the Best Actress category, for their films 45 Years and Brooklyn, respectively
Star in the making: Room's Brie Larson - who won a Golden Globe on Sunday - is in the Best Actress category for the Oscars
The Best Director nods have gone to Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), Adam McKay (The Big Short), Lenny Abraham (Room) and George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road).
The Supporting Actor nominees are Christian Bale (The Big Short), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies) and Sylvester Stallone (Creed).
And the Supporting Actress nominees are Jennifer Lason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Rooney Mara (Carol), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs).
Following The Revenant's impressive 12 nods, Mad Max: Fury Road is in second place with 10 nominations, The Martian with seven and Bridge Of Spies with six, although director Steven Spielberg was missed off the Best Director list for his Cold War drama.
Redmayne will certainly be hoping to follow his 2015 Oscars success: the 34-year-old lost out on the Golden Globe in the leading actor category to his rival DiCaprio at Sunday's ceremony.
But he has been nominated for a BAFTA and critics expect an Oscar to be highly likely to follow for his role in The Danish Girl.
Tough competition: The Martian's Matt Damon (left) and Trumbo star Bryan Cranston are up for Best Actor
He did a great Jobs! Michael Fassbender has impressed critics with his portrayal of the late Apple founder in Steve Jobs - he is up for a Best Actor gong
The Brit won best actor at last year's Academy Awards for his portrayal of scientist Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything.
He has received further acclaim for The Danish Girl as Lili Elbe, one of the first known transgender women to receive sex reassignment surgery.
But the Best Actor category is full of big names this year, and he'll have to face off against DiCaprio for The Revenant, Fassbender for his role in Steve Jobs, Cranston in Trumbo and Damon for Ridley Scott's adaptation of Andy Weir's book, The Martian.
Damon won the Best Actor Golden Globe in the Motion Picture Musical or Comedy category for his role as stranded astronaut Mark Watney.
But all eyes are on DiCaprio, who has been lauded for his portrayal of explorer Hugh Glass who survives a horrific bear attack after being left for dead.
The Titanic actor has previously been nominated for five Oscars, but is yet to win one - however, many fans and critics believe that 2016 will finally be the year he holds high his first golden Academy Award.
Drama: Gritty Spotlight is nominated in the Best Picture category
Explosive: George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road has been nominated in 10 categories, including Best Picture and Best Director
An epic tale: The Martian's Matt Damon has received an Oscar nod in the Best Actor and Best Picture categories, among others - it has received seven nods in total
She's on the up: Saoirse Ronan has impressed the critics in Brooklyn, and has bagged a Best Actress nomination - the film is also up for Best Picture
Jennifer Lawrence, meanwhile, could score her second Oscar, as she has been nominated once again in the Best Actress field.
The one-time winner and three-time nominee has been praised for her role as Joy Mangano, the divorced mother-of-three and self-made millionaire.
Directed by David O. Russell, it tells the story of a family across four generations, centered on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty and becomes a matriarch in her own right.
Lawrence won the Golden Globe for her role in the film on Sunday, scoring the Best Actress gong in the Motion Picture Comedy or Musical category.
A touching tale: Brie Larson stars as a locked-up mother in the big-screen adaptation of Room - she is up for Best Actress and the film is nominated for Best Picture
Top honour? The Big Short (starring Jeremy Strong, Rafe Spall, Hamish Linklater, Steve Carell, Jeffry Griffin, Ryan Gosling) is a hot favourite at this year's awards season. It is nominated for Best Picture
Rounding it off: Bridge Of Spies has scored a Best Picture nomination, as well as a Supporting Actor nod for Mark Rylance (centre)
Following the live announcement of the nominations on Thursday morning, those who are up for gongs have responded, with DiCaprio leading the pack.
'I am so grateful to the Academy for their recognition of this film,' he said of his Best Actor nod.
'Making The Revenant was one of the most rewarding and collaborative experiences of my life. None of this would have been possible without Alejandro's talent, vision and determination. Our dedicated crew also deserves to share in this moment.
'Together, they have created a truly unique cinematic experience. Congratulations to all of my fellow nominees this season. Thank you to the Academy.'
Potential Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence reacted quickly to the fourth Oscar nomination of her career, saying: 'I am beyond grateful and humbled by this nomination. I feel incredibly honored to be recognized among the other amazing women in this category.
'Joy is an incredibly inspiring story about an ordinary woman who does extraordinary things. For me, working with David O. Russell has been nothing short of extraordinary, and I share this nomination with him as well as our incredible supporting cast.
Storming awards season: Kate Winslet (seen with her Golden Globe on Sunday) is up for a Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Steve Jobs
Well done: The Hateful Eight's Jennifer Jason Leigh (left), Spotlight's Rachel McAdams (centre) and The Danish Girl's Alicia Vikander (right) are all candidates for Supporting Actress
Can she do it? Rooney Mara has received a nod for her role opposite Cate Blanchett in Carol - she is up for Supporting Actress
She added: 'I could not be more proud to be a part of this film and thankful to the producers and Fox for their unyielding support.'
Brie Larson was stunned to be among the Best Actress nominees. The actress is currently in Australia filming a new King Kong movie, but spoke to TODAY's Take as soon as the nominations were revealed.
'I'm just sitting here in complete and utter shock over all of this,' she said.
'There's a live stream [of the nominations] online, so I watched the live stream! It's the first time ever I've done that. It kind of feels like my own little Super Bowl.'
Supporting Actress nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh gushed: 'This is incredible news to wake up to. I am thrilled. I didn't think the experience of working with Quentin [Tarantino] and this cast could get any more rewarding... to get this recognition for this role is such a joy.'
Meanwhile, Max Max: Fury Road director George Miller said he wasn't expecting his film to be honored at the Academy Awards, let alone receive the second most nominations of any film this year.
The Australian filmmaker - who was nominated for Best Director - confessed on Thursday: 'It's a party I didn't expect to be invited to.'
Rocky's back! Sylvester Stallone is nominated in the Supporting Actor for his role as iconic boxer Rocky Balboa in Creed
Talented chaps: Bridge Of Spies' Mark Rylance (left), The Big Short's Christian Bale (centre) and Spotlight's Mark Ruffalo are all up for Supporting Actor
Doing it for the Brits: Tom Hardy has received a nod in the Supporting Actor list for his role alongside Leonardo in The Revenant
He added: 'Needless to say we're doing little happy jigs and it's really nice to be invited to the party.'
In the Original Song category are The Writing's On The Wall (Spectre), Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey), Simple Song #3 (Youth), Til It Happens To You (The Hunting Ground) and Manta Ray (Racing Extinction).
Lady Gaga and her writing partner Diane Warren were nominated alongside British singer Sam Smith in the Original Song category: the Golden Globe-winning actress and singer penned Til It Happens To You for an expose on rape crimes on college campuses titled The Hunting Ground.
And, as soon as this was announced on Thursday, the 29-year-old shared a heartfelt message on social media along with a snap of a typed-out note.
The note read: 'This nomination lends a voice to victims & survivors all over the world. Thank you to THE ACADEMY for recognizing the movement of people who have come together for this film & song in the name of sexual assault. Myself and Diane are simply honored to represent the voices of so many SURVIVORS.'
She introduced the image with the caption: 'Myself and Diane Warren's song Til It Happens To You, original score for The Hunting Ground was just nominated for an OSCAR!'
Two years ago Gaga, born Stefani Germanotta, revealed she was raped when she was 19 years old.
She told the Los Angeles Times last year that writing Til It Happens To You was an emotionally painful process.
'Every time I listen to it, I cry. Every time I get a text about it, I always feel sick,' she said. 'It's like this thing you don't want to face. But because she wanted to face it with me, it reminded me of what the song is for.'
And Sam Smith, who penned and performed the James Bond film Spectre's soundtrack Writing's On The Wall, shared a stunned photograph of himself on Instagram.
He gushed: 'This is my Oscar Nomination face. Unreal. Freaking out. Thank you Academy - Thank You Thank You Thank You.'
Heartfelt: Lady Gaga shared a heartfelt message after earning an Oscar nomination in the Original Song category for her track Til It Happens To You, from rape expose The Hunting Ground
Honored: The pop star, who just won a Golden Globe for her recent foray into TV acting, posted a photo to Twitter of a type written message in response to the nod
'This is my Oscar Nomination face': Sam Smith was absolutely stunned to be nominated in the Original Song category for his Spectre track Writing's On The Wall
This year's most-nominated film The Revenant sees Leonardo DiCaprio play Hugh Glass, a taciturn, greasy-haired 1820s fur trapper left for dead in the wilderness by his own hunting team after being mauled by a bear that rips his throat.
In a fight for survival, Glass treks through snow-covered forests, gets swept away in a waterfall, sleeps inside the carcass of a disemboweled horse and hungrily eats raw bison liver before making it back to his camp.
Ridley Scott's The Martian is a sci-fi extravaganza, and has scored seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.
When astronauts take off from Mars, they leave behind Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, who is presumed dead after a fierce storm.
With only a scant amount of supplies, the stranded visitor must utilise his wits and spirit to find a way to survive on the hostile planet.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, members of NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring him home, while his crew mates hatch their own plan for a daring rescue mission.
Adam McKay's The Big Short is another hot contender for a slew of gongs at this year's ceremony with its all-star cast, including Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling.
The movie focuses on four outsiders who can tell that there is going to be a global economy collapse and create a new plan called The Big Short. Their bold investment leads them into the seedy world of modern banking where they must question everyone and everything to protect themselves.
Announcement: Actor John Krasinski and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs dictated the nominations on Thursday morning
Shock in Hollywood: Many have been left angered that all of the five Best Director nominees are males, and that the acting categories only include white actors
Spotlight, directed by Tom McCarthy, is based on the true story of The Boston Globe's editor Marty Baron who, in 2001, assigns a team of journalists to investigate a priest accused of molesting over 80 boys.
The reporters - including Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Matt Carroll (Brian d'Arcy James) and Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) - make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.
In Room - based on Emma Donoghue's novel of the same name - Brie Larson plays Ma, a woman living in captivity with her young son who was fathered by her captor.
She then manages to escape and explain the reality of the world to her five-year-old son Jack, as he must come face-to-face with the world for the first time in his life.
Mad Max: Fury Road - the fourth installment in the popular franchise - is a post-apocalyptic, all-action film that shows the collapse of civilisation while a few fight to survive in a desert wasteland.
Acclaim: Eddie's performance in The Danish Girl may score him his second Oscar
Bringing him to life: Michael impressed as Steve Jobs in Danny Boyle's biographical big screen effort
She could win again: Best Actress nominee Jennifer portrays self-made millionaire and divorced single mother Joy Mangano in David O. Russell's Joy
Romance: Cate is up for Best Actress, and Rooney is up for Supporting Actress for their respective roles in lesbian romance drama Carol, although the film was snubbed in the Best Picture category
Veteran: British star Charlotte has won acclaim for her role in 45 Years, a drama about a couple on the edge as they prepare to mark their 45th wedding anniversary
Starring Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy and Nicholas Hoult among others, the blockbuster has been nominated for 10 gongs overall.
Set in 1950s New York, Brooklyn centres on Irish immigrant Eilis Lacey, played by Saoirse Ronan, and her illicit romance with a tough Italian plumber.
However, she faces temptation from another man when she returns to Ireland.
Steven Spielberg's Bridge Of Spies is a Cold War drama starring Tom Hanks and Supporting Actor nominee Mark Rylance.
The historical thriller is based on the Soviet Union's capture of US pilot Francis Gary Powers, and the fight to get him out of prison. His hopes rest on lawyer James Donovan (Hanks) who is recruited by a CIA operative.
The documentary about Amy Winehouse, called Amy, is nominated for Best Documentary Feature, as is What Happened, Miss Simone? about singer Nina Simone, The Look Of Silence, Cartel Land and Winter On Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom.
Here they come: Chris Rock is set to present the 88th Academy Awards ceremony on February 28, live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California
British author Alex Garland was honoured for his original screenplay for Ex Machina.
Also competing in the best original screenplay category are Bridge Of Spies, Inside Out, Spotlight and Straight Outta Compton.
British author Nick Hornby received a nominated in the Adapted Screenplay category for Brooklyn, while Irish author Emma Donoghue got a nod for her adaptation of her own novel Room.
They will compete against Drew Goddard for his adaptation of Alex Weir's novel The Martian, Phyllis Nagy for Carol, which is based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Price Of Salt, and Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for The Big Short, which is based on Michael Lewis's book of the same name.
In terms of those who have been left off the list of nominations this year, Ridley Scott is perhaps the most shocking of all.
The Martian director was overlooked, as was Carol director Todd Haynes.
Many thought Michael Keaton, a best actor nominee last year for Birdman who was defeated by Redmayne, might score a nomination this year for Spotlight, but he was also snubbed.
In the Best Picture category, many expected the critically acclaimed Carol to get a nod, but it was notably missed.
The star-studded ceremony - the biggest of the entire annual awards season - will be held on February 28.
It will be hosted by comic actor Chris Rock and will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
