The Films Going to the Bake-Off

2:15pm: updated with commentary below

Today, The Academy announced the names of the 10 films that will be competing for this year's Visual Effects Academy Award.  Congratulations to all the people involved with these films. Here is the Academy's statement.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 87th Oscars®.

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Godzilla
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Interstellar
• Maleficent
• Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
• X-Men: Days of Future Past

The Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist.  All members of the Visual Effects Branch will now be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 10, 2015.  Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The 87th Academy Awards® nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.


Today's visual effects landscape is staggeringly competitive. The quality (and quantity) of work being executed by the world's visual effects facilities is top notch. Not convinced? Just look at the films that didn't make it into the bake-off: "Exodus", "Amazing Spider-Man 2", "Lucy", "Edge of Tomorrow", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Noah".