LOS ANGELES, USA (AP) — Science fiction scored big with the Producers Guild of America, with Avatar, Star Trek and District 9 taking three of the 10 nominations yesterday for the group’s top film honours.

The group representing Hollywood producers also handed best-picture nominations to the animated blockbuster Up, the World War II hit Inglourious Basterds and the critical favourites The Hurt Locker, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire, Up in the Air, An Education, and Invictus.

The Producers Guild followed the lead of the Academy Awards and doubled its best-picture field to 10 nominees this season.

Up is also nominated for best animated film, along with 9, Coraline, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Princess and the Frog.

The guild picks typically are a good forecast for the eventual best-picture line-up at the Oscars, whose nominations come out February 2.

If Oscar choices run the same way, the show will gain the mass appeal organisers had sought to bring to Hollywood’s biggest party. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doubled the best-picture field last summer, hoping to bring a broader range of films into the awards fold, including the sort of blockbuster fare the Oscars often have lacked in recent years.

The Dark Knight, 2008’s biggest hit, earned a best-picture nomination a year ago from the Producers Guild, but was overlooked for the top Oscar category. Its omission was cited as a factor in the decision to expand the best-picture field, Oscar organisers saying they felt there were more than five films deserving nominations.

TV ratings for the Oscar show, on a general decline over the last few decades, usually climb in years when huge hits are in the running. The Oscars had their biggest audience ever when Titanic, the modern box-office king with $1.8 billion worldwide, dominated the ceremony 12 years ago.

Avatar is Titanic director James Cameron’s first narrative film since then. The sci-fi epic has topped $350 million domestically and shot past the $1-billion mark worldwide, and it appears headed to the No 2 spot in the record books globally, behind Titanic.

The Producers Guild line-up includes four other big hits — Up and Star Trek, both $200-million smashes, and District 9 and Inglourious Basterds, which topped $100 million each.

The other nominees present a mix of star power and critical raves.

The recession-era comic drama Up in the Air has been an adult-audience favourite with plenty of box-office potential left and the celebrity appeal of star George Clooney.

The Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker has dominated key honours from critics groups and did solid independent-cinema business. The teen dramas Precious and An Education and the South Africa tale Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, also have been strong arthouse earners featuring some of the year’s most acclaimed performances.