This time round, Producer's Guild of American has dropped no surprises for Best Picture nominees, as it did with 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' (2001) or 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' (2002). With the winner to be announced on 24th January, unsurprisingly, Best Picture nominees include 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', 'Dark Knight', 'Frost/Nixon', 'Milk', 'The Dark Knight' and 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

There are some who believe animated film 'Wall-E' may get the nod, as did animated blockbusters like 'Shrek' (2001) and 'The Incredibles' (2004) in the past. Other films like 'Doubt', 'Gran Torino', 'The Reader', ' Revolutionary Road ' and 'The Wrestler', which everyone believed were Oscar front-runners, didn't cut the ice with the Guild.

In its 19-year history, twelve of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Oscar nominations for the Best Picture, have emerged as winners, including last year's 'No Country for Old Men'. However, three PGA special picks e. g. 'Little Miss Sunshine' (2006), ' Brokeback Mountain ', and 'Million Dollar Baby' failed to prevail at the Oscars.

Though, predicting 63% of the Oscar winners only, PGA has been correct 76% of the time re. Best Picture contenders. Indeed, over the last 19-years, 72 of their selections have been among the 95 contending for top Oscar, and last year with 'Juno', 'Michael Clayton', 'There Will Be Blood', they scored four out of five, when their fifth nominee 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' lost out to 'Atonement'.

The only time that none of their Oscar nominations failed to get an Oscar was in 1995, when 'Braveheart' lost the Golden Laurel to 'Apollo 13'.

The complete list of PGA nominees is as follows:

Best Picture The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire.

Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures Simon Chinn for 'Man on Wire'. Julie Bilson Ahlberg, Errol Morris 'Standard Operating Procedure'. Carl Deal, Tia Lessin for 'Trouble in the Water'.

Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures Clark Spencer for 'Bolt', Melissa Cobb 'Kung Fu Panda', Jim Morris for 'WALL-E'

Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award In Episodic Television - Comedy Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Tim Gibbons, Erin O'Malley, Alec Berg, Dave Mandel, Jeff Schaffer (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Stephen Levinson, Doug Ellin, Rob Weiss, Denis Biggs, Lori Jo Nemhauser, Wayne Carmona (Entourage), Greg Daniels, Kent Zbomak (The Office), Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey, Marci Klein, Robert Carlock, Jeff Richmond, Jerry Kupfer, David Miner (30 Rock), To Be Decided (Weeds).

Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television - Drama

Bill D'Elia, David E. Kelley, Mike Listo, Steve Robin, Janet Knutsen (Boston Legal), Mark A. Baker, Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman (Damages), John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Clyde Phillips, Robert Lloyd Lewis (Dexter), Jack Bender, Carlton Cuse, Drew Goddard, Jean Higgins, Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, Damon Lindelof, Liz Sarnoff, Stephen Williams, Ra'uf Glasglow (Lost), To Be Decided (Mad Men).

The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television To Be Decided (24: Redemption), (Bernard and Doris), David Coatsworth, Frank Doelger, Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Steven Shareshian (John Adams), To Be Decided
(A Raisin in the Sun), To Be Decided (Recount)

Producer of the Year Award in Non-fiction Television Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, Lisa Tanzer, Ethan Prochnik (Deadliest Catch); David Fanning (Frontline); Marcia Mule, Bryan Scott, Lisa M. Tucker, Kathy Griffin, Chris Carlson, Amy Kohn (Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List); Jeff Fager (60 Minutes); Ken Druckerman, Ira Glass, Lisa Pollak, Julie Snyder, Banks Tarver, Nancy Updike, Kevin Vargas, Christopher Wilcha (This American Life).

Producer of the Year Award in Live Entertainment / Competition Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Hayma Screech Washington, Amy Chacon, Elise Doganieri, Mark Vertullo (The Amazing Race); Stephen T. Colbert, DFA, Jon Stewart, Allison Silverman, Richard Dahm, Meredith Bennett, Tom Purcell (The Colbert Report); Rich Bye, Rich Buhrman, Jane Cha, Dan Cutforth, Desiree Gruber, Heidi Klum, Jane Lipsitz (Project Runway); Rich Buhrman, Liz Cook, Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Shauna Minoprio, Nan Strait, Andrew Wallace (Top Chef); Bill Maher, Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Dean Johnsen (Real Time With Bill Maher).

PGA Honorary Awards And Recipients: Milestone Award - Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

David O. Selznick Achievement Award In Theatrical Motion Pictures - Michael Douglas.

Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television - David Chase.

Visionary Award - Jeff Skoll.

Vanguard Award - MySpace founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson.

The Stanley Kramer Award - 'Milk' - Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen.