The Producers Guild of America picked a wide range of nominees on Wednesday for 2006's best film, including musical Dreamgirls and crime thriller The Departed, giving all the movies a boost in Hollywood's Oscar race.
Comedy Little Miss Sunshine, cultural drama Babe and The Queen, about Britain's royal family, were the other best movie nominees.
The list features a diverse group of films in both genre and budget size, which contrasts to last year when many low-budget dramas were considered among the year's top films.
Dreamgirls, for instance, is a flashy Hollywood musical with big-name stars such as actor Jamie Foxx and singer Beyonce Knowles. By contrast, Little Miss Sunshine, was made outside Hollywood's studio system for a around US$8 million.
The association of film and television producers is among the industry's top organizations, and Hollywood watchers follow its nominees closely when tracking movies competing for Oscars, the film industry's top honors.
The Guild also nominated the makers of five films for best animated movie: Cars, Happy Feet, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Monster House and Flushed Away.
For best US TV drama, the organization picked the producers of hospital programs Grey's Anatomy and House, crime shows 24 and The Sopranos, as well as Lost.
The nominees for top TV comedy produced Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, My Name is Earl and Weeds.
The Producers Guild names its winners in a ceremony in Los Angeles on Jan. 20. The Oscars are handed out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in February.
Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima was a notable absentee Wednesday.
Eastwood's gritty World War II drama depicting the battle for Iwo Jima from the perspective of Japanese soldiers has drawn glowing reviews since its US release last month, picking up two top critics prizes.
However, the war movie was edged out of a place on the PGA awards shortlist by several other films that are tipped to contend for Oscars glory.
Harrison Ford is preparing to dust off the fedora and bullwhip once more. After years of delays, filming on a new Indiana Jones movie will get underway this year, the trade journal Variety reported.
Variety said directors Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Ford had all signed on for the fourth installment of the series featuring the swashbuckling archaeologist.
For Spielberg, the film marks a return to the all-action entertainment genre after years spent on more weighty projects such as Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and Munich.
Variety said the film's producers are hoping for a worldwide release date of May, 2008 — 19 years after the last film in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Speculation about a fourth Indiana Jones movie has ebbed and flowed for years, while some fans have questioned whether Ford, 64, would be able to meet the physical demands of the role.
"I'm delighted to be back in business with my old friends," Variety quoted Ford as saying.
Spielberg said that after turning down several scripts over the years, he and Lucas were pleased with the version offered for the latest movie.
"We feel that the script was well worth the wait. We hope it delivers everything you'd expect from our history with Indiana Jones," Spielberg said. "George, Harrison and I are all very excited."
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