Ian McKellen in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

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Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," led the way with nine nominations for the 39th annual Saturn Awards, recognizing the best in genre filmmaking. It picked up nods in the Best Fantasy Film and Best Director categories, among others. Not far behind were Ang Lee's Oscar nominee "Life of Pi" with eight and Sam Mendes's James Bon actioner "Skyfall" with seven.

Marvel's "The Avengers" also had a strong showing, while Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman, Jessica Chastain, Quevenzhané Wallis, Naomi Watts, Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway were cited in the performance categories. Jennifer Lawrence was also nominated, for her work in "The Hunger Games."

Among studios, Warner Bros. received the most mentions with 23, owed plenty to its genre  entries "Cloud Atlas," "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Hobbit." The studio also landed a single nomination for presumed Best Picture winner "Argo," in the Best Horror/Thriller Category.

The awards will be presented in June. Check out the full list of film nominees below. Everything else, as ever, at The Circuit.

Best Science Fiction Film
"The Avengers"
"Chronicle"
"Cloud Atlas"
"The Hunger Games"
"Looper"
"Prometheus"

Best Fantasy Film
"The Amazing Spider-Man"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Life of Pi"
"Ruby Sparks"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"
"Ted"

Best Horror/Thriller Film
"Argo"
"The Cabin in the Woods"
"The Impossible"
"Seven Psychopaths"
"The Woman in Black"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Action/Adventure Film
"The Bourne Legacy"
"The Dark Knight Rises"
"Django Unchained"
"Les Misérables"
"Skyfall"
"Taken 2"

Best Independent Film Release
"Hitchcock"
"Killer Joe"
"The Paperboy"
"Robot and Frank"
"Safety Not Guaranteed"
"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World"

Best International Film
"Anna Karenina"
"Chicken with Plums"
"The Fairy"
"Headhunters"
"My Way"
"Pusher"

Best Animated Film
"Brave"
"Frankenweenie"
"ParaNorman"
"Wreck-It Ralph"

Best Actor
Christian Bale, "The Dark Knight Rises"
Daniel Craig, "Skyfall"
Martin Freeman, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Misérables"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "Looper"
Mathew McConaughey, "Killer Joe"

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Ann Dowd, "Compliance"
Zoe Kazan, "Ruby Sparks"
Jennifer Lawrence, "The Hunger Games"
Helen Mirren, "Hitchcock"
Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, "Skyfall"
Michael Fassbender, "Prometheus"
Clark Gregg, "The Avengers"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "The Dark Knight Rises"
Ian McKellen, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"

Best Supporting Actress
Judi Dench, "Skyfall"
Gina Gershon, "Killer Joe"
Anne Hathaway, "The Dark Knight Rises"
Anne Hathaway, "Les Misérables"
Nicole Kidman, "The Paperboy"
Charlize Theron, "Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Performance by a Younger Actor
CJ Adams, "The Odd Life of Timothy Green"
Tom Holland, "The Impossible"
Daniel Huttlestone, "Les Misérables"
Chloe Grace Moretz, "Dark Shadows"
Suraj Sharma, "Life of Pi"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Direction
William Friedkin, "Killer Joe"
Peter Jackson, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Rian Johnson, "Looper"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight Rises"
Joss Whedon, "The Avengers"

Best Writing
"The Avengers"
"The Cabin in the Woods"
"Django Unchained"
"Killer Joe"
"Life of Pi"
"Seven Psychopaths"

Best Production Design
"Anna Karenina"
"Cloud Atlas"
"Dark Shadows"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"

Best Editing
"The Avengers"
"The Bourne Legacy"
"Cloud Atlas"
"Life of Pi"
"Looper"
"Skyfall"

Best Music
"Anna Karenina"
"The Dark Knight Rises"
"Frankenweenie"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Life of Pi"
"Skyfall"

Best Costume
"Anna Karenina"
"Cloud Atlas"
"Django Unchained"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Misérables"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Makeup
"Cloud Atlas"
"Hitchcock"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"The Impossible"
"Skyfall"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"

Best Special Effects
"The Avengers"
"Battleship"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"John Carter"
"Life of Pi"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Kristopher Tapley
Editor-at-Large

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Kristopher Tapley has covered the film awards landscape for over a decade. He founded In Contention in 2005. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times of London and Variety. He begs you not to take any of this too seriously.