Summary
- James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water dominates the film side of the 51st Annual Saturn Awards with a record-breaking 12 nominations.
- Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead lead in cable TV nominations, while Star Trek: Picard dominates the streaming categories.
- The Saturn Awards shine a spotlight on genre entertainment, highlighting films and TV series that may otherwise go unnoticed by the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
Nominations for the 51st Annual Saturn Awards were announced on December 6, 2023, in Los Angeles, with James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water securing a record-breaking 12 nominations on the film side of things, while Better Caul Saul and The Walking Dead lead the charge in cable TV, with Star Trek: Picard dominating streaming categories.
Taking place on February 4, 2024, the 51st Annual Saturn Award nominees for feature films include Oppenheimer with an impressive 11 nominations, including one for Best Thriller Film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with nine nominations with one being for Best Fantasy Film, as well as Barbie with eight nods, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with seven nominations, including Best Superhero Film. Horror films nominated include Evil Dead Rise, Insidious: The Red Door, and Talk to Me.
Star Trek: Picard garnered seven nominations for Paramount+, Andor with five for Disney+, and The Last of Us also with five for HBO. The Walking Dead earned six nominations for AMC, while Better Call Saul raked in seven nominations for the network. What We Do in the Shadows, The Mandalorian, Loki, and Chucky all garnered nominations this year as well.
Nominated actors include Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Ralph Fiennes (The Menu), Mia Goth (Pearl), and Margot Robbie (Barbie). On the writing and directing side of things, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert earned a nomination for Best Film Writing (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Jon Watts was nominated for Best Film Direction for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
You can view a complete list of nominees for the 51st Annual Saturn Awards here.
What Are The Saturn Awards?
First created in 1973, the Saturn Awards were established by Donald A. Reed at a time when science fiction went largely unnoticed by the Hollywood system. Winners were originally presented with a Golden Scroll certificate, which was later changed in the late 1970s to a trophy representing the planet Saturn.
The 51st Annual Saturn Awards are presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, and highlight the best in genre entertainment, shining a spotlight on films and TV series that may otherwise go overlooked by the Academy Awards, and the Golden Globes. Some of the more notable film categories include Best Science Fiction Film, Best Fantasy Film, and Best Horror Film. Cable TV and streaming are their own separate entities, unlike the Primetime Emmy Awards, where the two are lumped together, and usually find cable networks being overshadowed by big-budget streaming productions.
Special awards have included The Life Career Award, Special Recognition Award, and the George Pal Memorial Award, named to honor the Hungarian animator and film producer associated with the science fiction and fantasy genres. This year’s Special Awards will be announced in the coming weeks, along with the names of presenters and the host for the 2024 award ceremony.
The 51st Annual Saturn Awards will be broadcast on February 4, 2024, from the LA Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, and you can watch the ceremony in its entirety on the streaming platform ElectricNOW, with the red carpet festivities kicking off at 1PM PST, and the awards getting under way at 4PM PST.
