Gary Oldman has been nominated for the Leading Actor gong at this year’s BAFTA Film Awards.

The London-born star has been named alongside Daniel Day Lewis (‘Phantom Thread’), Daniel Kaluuya (‘Get Out’), Jamie Bell (‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’) and Timothee Chalamet (‘Call Me By Your Name’) on the list of nominees for the coveted award, which is to be decided at the Royal Albert Hall on February 18.

Oldman, 59, has received the nomination for his stellar performance in the Joe Wright-directed history movie ‘Darkest Hour’, in which he stars as Britain’s war-time Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Oldman’s latest nomination for the Leading Actor award – which follows earlier nods for his performance in ‘Prick Up Your Ears’ in 1988 and 2012’s ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ – is sure to increase speculation over a possible first-ever Academy Award for the acclaimed actor.

The BAFTA Film Awards are often seen as a good indicator as to potential Academy Award winners, with this year’s ceremony being staged on March 4.

Elsewhere, the Leading Actress list features Hollywood star Annette Bening for ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’, Frances McDormand for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, Margot Robbie for ‘I, Tonya’, Saoirse Ronan for ‘Lady Bird’ and Sally Hawkins for ‘The Shape of Water’.

In total, ‘The Shape of Water’ has received nods in 12 categories for this year’s ceremony, including Director, Leading Actress and Original Screenplay.

Guillermo del Toro won a Golden Globe on Sunday (07.01.18) for Best Director of a Motion Picture for his unusual creature feature.

But the 53-year-old Mexican will face stiff competition from ‘Blade Runner 2049’ helmer Denis Villeneuve, ‘Call Me By Your Name’ director Luca Guadagnino, ‘Dunkirk’ filmmaker Christopher Nolan and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ mastermind Martin McDonagh.

It has been confirmed, too, that British actress Joanna Lumley is to replace Stephen Fry as the host of this year’s BAFTA Film Awards.

Lumley, 71, will become the first female host since Mariella Frostrup co-presented with Fry back in 2001.

She said: “Honestly, how exciting is this? It’s just so unbelievably thrilling. Who thought I’d turn into Stephen Fry?

“I want to thank Bafta so much for asking me to do this. I said yes indecently quickly.”

EE British Academy Film Awards nominations:

Leading Actor:
Daniel Day Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Leading Actress:
Annette Bening, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Supporting Actress:
Alison Janney, I, Tonya
Kristin Scott Thomas, Darkest Hour
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Film:
Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Dunkirk

British Film:
Darkest Hour
The Death of Stalin
God’s Own Country
Lady Macbeth
Paddington 2
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Director:
Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Guillermo Del, The Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Debut by a British Director, Writer or Producer:
Gareth Tunley (writer/director/producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meetman (producers), The Ghoul
Rungano Nyoni (writer/director), Emily Morgan (producer), I Am Not a Witch
Johnny Harris (writer/producer), Thomas Napper (director), Jawbone
Lucy Cohen (director), Kingdom of Us

EE BAFTA Rising Star:
Daniel Kaluuya
Florence Pugh
Josh O’Connor
Tessa Thompson
Timothée Chamalet

Original Screenplay:
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Steve Rogers, I, Tonya
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Guillermo Del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Adapted Screenplay:
James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name
Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider, The Death of Stalin
Matt Greenhalgh, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game
Paul King, Simon Farnaby, Paddington 2

Animated Film:
Coco
Loving Vincent
My Life as a Courgette

Cinematography:
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour
Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk
Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water
Ben Davis, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Costume Design:
Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast
Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour
Jennifer Johnson, I, Tonya
Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread
Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water

Make Up & Hair:
Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn, Blade Runner 2049
David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji, Darkest Hour
Debora La Mia Denaver, Deruitha Lee, I, Tonya
Daniel Phillips, Victoria & Abdul
Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten, Wonder

Documentary:
City of Ghosts
I Am Not Your Negro
Icarus
An Inconvenient Sequel
Jane

Editing:
Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss, Baby Driver
Joe Walker, Blade Runner 2049
Lee Smith, Dunkirk
Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water
Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Original Music:
Blade Runner
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water

Production Design:
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Beauty and the Beast
Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola, Blade Runner 2049
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Darkest Hour
Nathan Crowley, Garry Fettis, Dunkirk
Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau, The Shape of Water

Film Not in the English Language:
Elle
First They Killed My Father
The Handmaiden
Loveless
The Salesman

Sound:
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Special Visual Effects:
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

British Short Film:
Aamir
Cowboy Dave
A Drowning Man
Work
Wren Boys

British Short Animation:
Have Heart
Mamoon
Poles Apart