'Avatar' gets Oscar nod

James Cameron's sci-fi epic 'Avatar' is among 10 movies nominated in the Best Picture category for the 2010 Academy Awards, it was announced today.

'Avatar' recently surpassed Cameron’s multiple Oscar-winning 'Titanic' – and saw the director beat his own record when the film became the highest grossing movie ever.

It will compete for the gong with critically acclaimed Iraq war movie 'The Hurt Locker', directed by Cameron's former partner Kathryn Bigelow.

Made for a fraction of the budget of 'Avatar', the tense movie about an elite bomb disposal team has won widespread critical acclaim and triumphed at the Directors Guild of America awards.

Also nominated in the hotly-contested category - expanded to include 10 nominees for the first time in Oscar history - is another sci-fi hit, low-budget South African film 'District 19', as is Quentin Tarantino's irreverent WWII flick 'Inglourious Basterds'.

George Clooney vehicle 'Up in the Air' and animated adventure 'Up' are also in the mix.

'The Blind Side', 'An Education', 'A Serious Man' and 'Precious' round out the Best Picture nominees.

Cameron, Bigelow and Tarantino are also up for Best Director.

Irish interests are meanwhile represented by 'The Secret of Kells' (Animated Feature Film),'Granny O'Grimm' Sleeping Beauty' (Animated Short) and 'The Door' (Live Action Short)

The 2010 Oscars ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on March 7.

Full list of nominees:

BEST ACTOR

Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)

George Clooney (Up In The Air)

Colin Firth (A Single Man)

Morgan Freeman (Invictus)

Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon (Invictus)

Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)

Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)

Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)

Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

BEST ACTRESS

Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)

Helen Mirren (The Last Station)

Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)

Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz (Nine)

Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air)

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)

Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air)

Mo’Nique (Precious)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

An Education – Nick Hornby

In The Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

Precious – Geoffrey Fletcher

Up In The Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Up – Bob Peterson, Pete Docter (story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy)

BEST FILM

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

A Serious Man

Up

Up In The Air

BEST DIRECTOR

Avatar – James Cameron

The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

Precious- Sapphire Lee Daniels

Up In The Air – Jason Reitman

ANIMATED FEATURE

Coraline

Fantastic Mr Fox

The Princess And The Frog

The Secret Of Kells

Up

ART DIRECTION

Avatar

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

Nine

Sherlock Holmes

The Young Victoria

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The White Ribbon

COSTUME DESIGN

Bright Star

Coco Before Chanel

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

Nine

The Young Victoria

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Burma VJ

The Cove

Food, Inc

The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers

Which Way Home

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears Of Sichuan Province

The Last Campaign Of Governor Booth Gardner

The Last Truck: Closing Of A GM Plant

Music By Prudence

Rabbit A La Berlin

FILM EDITING

Avatar

District 9

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Ajami (Israel)

El Secreto De Sus Ojos (Argentina)

The Milk Of Sorrow (Peru)

Un Prophete (France)

The White Ribbon (Germany)

MAKE-UP

Il Divo

Star Trek

The Young Victoria

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Avatar – James Horner

Fantastic Mr Fox – Alexandre Desplat

The Hurt Locker – Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

Sherlock Holmes – Hans Zimmer

Up – Michael Giacchino

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

Almost There (The Princess And The Frog – Randy Newman)

Down In New Orleans (The Princess And The Frog – Randy Newman)

Loin de Paname (Paris 36 – Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas)

Take It All (Nine – Maury Yeston)

The Weary Kind (Crazy Heart – Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett)

ANIMATED SHORT

French Roast

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty

The Lady And The Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)

Logorama

A Matter Of Loaf And Death

LIVE ACTION SHORT

The Door

Instead Of Abracadabra

Kavi

Miracle Fish

The New Tenants

SOUND EDITING

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Up

SOUND MIXING

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar

District 9

Star TreK