Comic confection “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is the surprise front-runner for the British Academy Film Awards, while English acting darlings Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch are competing in the best-actor category.
Wes Anderson’s “Hotel” received 11 nominations Friday, including best picture and best director. Ralph Fiennes was nominated for best actor as the unflappable concierge of a chaotic European hostelry.
Acting nominees also include Michael Keaton, as a washed-up actor aiming for a comeback in “Birdman.” The Alejandro Inarritu-directed movie was nominated in 10 categories, as was James Marsh’s “The Theory of Everything,” which stars Redmayne as physicist Stephen Hawking.
Redmayne said his acting nomination was “beyond imagination.” He insisted he feels no rivalry with Cumberbatch, nominated for playing World War II code-breaker Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game.” That film received nine nominations.
“One can try and create a rivalry but it will not happen!” Redmayne said from Los Angeles. “We both absolutely understand people wanting to pitch us against each other, but we are old, old friends and I think he is the most wonderful actor. He is sensational in ‘The Imitation Game’ and I love watching him. “
Jake Gyllenhaal is also nominated for his performance as a sleazy journalist in “Nightcrawler.” But there was no recognition for Timothy Spall, whose performance as artist J.M.W. Turner in “Mr. Turner” took the best-actor prize at Cannes.
Best-actress contenders are Felicity Jones for “The Theory of Everything,” Amy Adams for “Big Eyes,” Julianne Moore for “Still Alice,” Rosamund Pike for “Gone Girl” and Reese Witherspoon for “Wild.”
Other front-runners include Richard Linklater’s decade-spanning “Boyhood” and Damien Chazelle’s drumming drama “Whiplash,” with five nominations each.
The best-picture nominees are “Birdman,” ‘’Boyhood,” ‘’The Grand Budapest Hotel,” ‘’The Imitation Game” and “The Theory of Everything.”
The separate category of best British picture includes “The Imitation Game” and “The Theory of Everything” alongside tense Northern Ireland drama “’71,” alien chiller “Under the Skin” and animated ursine adventure “Paddington.”
Winners of the awards, known as BAFTAs, will be decided by 6,500 members of the British film academy and announced at London’s Royal Opera House on Feb. 8.
The British prizes are seen as an indicator of likely success at Hollywood’s Academy Awards, whose nominees are announced next week.
Here’s a rundown of BAFTA nominations:
Film | Adapted Screenplay in 2015
The Theory Of Everything
Anthony Mccarten
The Imitation Game
Graham Moore
American Sniper
Jason Hall
Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn
Paddington
Paul King
Film | Animated Film in 2015
The Boxtrolls
Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable
The Lego Movie
Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Big Hero 6
Don Hall, Chris Williams
Film | British Short Animation in 2015
Monkey Love Experiments
Ainslie Henderson, Cam Fraser, Will Anderson
The Bigger Picture
Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka
My Dad
Marcus Armitage
Film | British Short Film in 2015
The Kรกrmรกn Line
Campbell Beaton, Dawn King, Tiernan Hanby, Oscar Sharp
Boogaloo And Graham
Brian J. Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Slap
Islay Bell-Webb, Michelangelo Fano, Nick Rowland
Emotional Fusebox
Michael Berliner, Rachel Tunnard
Three Brothers
Aleem Khan, Matthieu De Braconier, Stephanie Paeplow
Film | Cinematography in 2015
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Robert Yeoman
Ida
Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski
Interstellar
Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner
Dick Pope
Birdman
Emmanuel Lubezki
Film | Costume Design in 2015
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Milena Canonero
The Imitation Game
Sammy Sheldon Differ
The Theory Of Everything
Steven Noble
Mr. Turner
Jacqueline Durran
Into The Woods
Colleen Atwood
Film | Director in 2015
Alejandro G. IรฑรกRritu
Birdman
Wes Anderson
The Grand Budapest Hotel
James Marsh
The Theory Of Everything
Richard Linklater
Boyhood
Damien Chazelle
Whiplash
Film | Documentary in 2015
20 Feet From Stardom
Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Gil Friesen
20,000 Days On Earth
Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
Finding Vivian Maier
John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Virunga
Orlando Von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara
Citizenfour
Laura Poitras
Film | EE Rising Star in 2015
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jack O’Connell
Shailene Woodley
Margot Robbie
Miles Teller
Film | Editing in 2015
Birdman
Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Barney Pilling
The Theory Of Everything
Jinx Godfrey
The Imitation Game
William Goldenberg
Nightcrawler
John Gilroy
Whiplash
Tom Cross
Film | Film in 2015
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
The Theory Of Everything
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony Mccarten
Birdman
Alejandro G. IรฑรกRritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole
The Imitation Game
Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
Film | Film not in the English Language in 2015
Ida
Pawel Pawlikowski, Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzieciol, Ewa Puszczynska
The Lunchbox
Ritesh Batra, Arun Rangachari, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga
Two Days, One Night
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd
Leviathan
Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov
Trash
Stephen Daldry, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kris Thykier
Film | Leading Actor in 2015
Eddie Redmayne
The Theory Of Everything
Ralph Fiennes
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Benedict Cumberbatch
The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal
Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton
Birdman
Film | Leading Actress in 2015
Felicity Jones
The Theory Of Everything
Julianne Moore
Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon
Wild
Amy Adams
Big Eyes
Rosamund Pike
Gone Girl
Film | Make-Up And Hair in 2015
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
Into The Woods
Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland
Mr. Turner
Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Frances Hannon
The Theory Of Everything
Jan Sewell
Film | Original Music in 2015
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar
Hans Zimmer
Birdman
Antonio Sanchez
The Theory Of Everything
JรณHann JรณHannsson
Under The Skin
Mica Levi
Film | Original Screenplay in 2015
Birdman
Alejandro G. IรฑรกRritu, NicolรกS Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson
Boyhood
Richard Linklater
Whiplash
Damien Chazelle
Nightcrawler
Dan Gilroy
Film | Outstanding British Film in 2015
’71
Yann Demange, Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch, Gregory Burke
The Theory Of Everything
James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony Mccarten
Under The Skin
Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Nick Wechsler, Walter Campbell
Pride
Matthew Warchus, David Livingstone, Stephen Beresford
The Imitation Game
Morten Tyldum, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman, Graham Moore
Paddington
Paul King, David Heyman
Film | Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer in 2015
Stephen Beresford, David Livingstone
Pride
Gregory Burke, Yann Demange
’71
Elaine Constantine
Northern Soul
Hong Khaou
Lilting
Paul Katis, Andrew De Lotbiniere
Kajaki: The True Story
Film | Production Design in 2015
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game
Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Mr. Turner
Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts
Interstellar
Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Big Eyes
Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau
Film | Sound in 2015
Birdman
Thomas Varga, Martin HernรกNdez, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaรฑo
American Sniper
Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
The Imitation Game
John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak
Whiplash
Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann
Film | Special Visual Effects in 2015
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett
X-Men: Days Of Future Past
Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer
Interstellar
Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley
Film | Supporting Actor in 2015
J.K. Simmons
Whiplash
Mark Ruffalo
Foxcatcher
Steve Carell
Foxcatcher
Edward Norton
Birdman
Ethan Hawke
Boyhood
Film | Supporting Actress in 2015
Keira Knightley
The Imitation Game
Imelda Staunton
Pride
Emma Stone
Birdman
Patricia Arquette
Boyhood
Rene Russo
Nightcrawler