'Hustle,' '12 Years,' 'Dallas Buyers,' and 'Wolf' Lead Oscar Nominations

True stories reign supreme in Hollywood. When the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the Oscars this morning, it was a quartet of films, all of which are based on actual events, which stood out.

'12 Years A Slave,’ adapted from the memoir of Solomon Northup, ‘American Hustle,’ loosely based on the Abscam scandal of the '70s, 'Dallas Buyers Club,’ about real-life AIDS victim Ron Woodruff, and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ a bio about the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, all nabbed nods for Best Picture, Lead Actor, and Supporting Actor.

'Captain Phillips,' also based on a true story, earned a Best Picture nomination, but surprisingly not one for its actor Tom Hanks or director Paul Greengrass. Newcomer Barkhad Abdi, however, nabbed a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

In the early stage, it looks to be a two-film race as far as Best Picture and most wins go, with ‘American Hustle,’ earning nods in the six major categories, and '12 Years a Slave’ receiving nods in five. Each film won best picture at the recent Golden Globes as Best Comedy and Best Drama, respectively.

The Academy nominated nine films for Best Picture for the third straight year, with the option of at most ten. ‘Nebraska,’ ‘Gravity,’ ‘’Her,’ and ‘Philomena’ round out those nominees. In all, ‘Hustle’ has ten nominations, with 'Gravity' also earning ten, but mostly in technical categories. '12 Years’ earned nine, 'Dallas Buyers Club,’ 'Nebraska,' and 'Captain Phillips' each nabbed six, and ‘Wolf’ and 'Her' received five.

Idris Elba in ‘Mandela’ and Robert Redford in ‘All is Lost’ were notable omissions for best actor. ‘All Is Lost’ earned but one recognition (Sound Editing), while the Coen Brothers highly-acclaimed chronicle ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ earned only two nominations for Cinematography and Sound Mixing

The Academy also mostly shut out ‘Saving Mr. Banks,’ awarding it one nomination for Original Score.

A complete list is shown below. The 86th Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 2 in Los Angeles with host Ellen DeGeneres.

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1. Best Picture: 'American Hustle,' 'Captain Phillips,' 'Dallas Buyers Club,' 'Gravity,' 'Her,' 'Nebraska,' 'Philomena,' '12 Years a Slave,' 'The Wolf of Wall Street.'

2. Actor: Christian Bale, 'American Hustle'; Bruce Dern, 'Nebraska'; Leonardo DiCaprio, 'The Wolf of Wall Street'; Chiwetel Ejiofor, '12 Years a Slave'; Matthew McConaughey, 'Dallas Buyers Club.'

3. Actress: Amy Adams, 'American Hustle'; Cate Blanchett, 'Blue Jasmine'; Sandra Bullock, 'Gravity'; Judi Dench, 'Philomena'; Meryl Streep, 'August: Osage County.'

4. Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, 'Captain Phillips'; Bradley Cooper, 'American Hustle'; Michael Fassbender, '12 Years a Slave'; Jonah Hill, 'The Wolf of Wall Street'; Jared Leto, 'Dallas Buyers Club.'

5. Supporting Actress: Sally Hawkins, 'Blue Jasmine'; Jennifer Lawrence, 'American Hustle'; Lupita Nyong'o, '12 Years a Slave'; Julia Roberts, 'August: Osage County; June Squibb, 'Nebraska.'

6. Directing: David O. Russell, 'American Hustle'; Alfonso Cuaron, 'Gravity'; Alexander Payne, 'Nebraska'; Steve McQueen, '12 Years a Slave'; Martin Scorsese, 'The Wolf of Wall Street.'

7. Foreign Language Film: 'The Broken Circle Breakdown,' Belgium; 'The Great Beauty,' Italy; 'The Hunt,' Denmark; 'The Missing Picture,' Cambodia; 'Omar,' Palestine.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, 'Before Midnight'; Billy Ray, 'Captain Phillips'; Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, 'Philomena'; John Ridley, '12 Years a Slave'; Terence Winter, 'The Wolf of Wall Street.'

9. Original Screenplay: Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, 'American Hustle'; Woody Allen, 'Blue Jasmine'; Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack, 'Dallas Buyers Club'; Spike Jonze, 'Her'; Bob Nelson, 'Nebraska.'

10. Animated Feature Film: 'The Croods'; 'Despicable Me 2'; 'Ernest & Celestine'; 'Frozen'; "The Wind Rises.'

11. Production Design: 'American Hustle,' 'Gravity,' 'The Great Gatsby,' 'Her,' '12 Years a Slave.'

12. Cinematography: 'The Grandmaster,' 'Gravity,' 'Inside Llewyn Davis,' 'Nebraska,' 'Prisoners.'

13. Sound Mixing: 'Captain Phillips,' 'Gravity,' 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,' 'Inside Llewyn Davis,' 'Lone Survivor.'

14. Sound Editing: 'All Is Lost,' 'Captain Phillips,' 'Gravity,' 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,' 'Lone Survivor.'

15. Original Score: 'The Book Thief,' John Williams; 'Gravity,' Steven Price; 'Her,' William Butler and Owen Pallett; 'Philomena,' Alexandre Desplat; 'Saving Mr. Banks,' Thomas Newman.

16. Original Song: 'Alone Yet Not Alone' from 'Alone Yet Not Alone,' Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel; 'Happy' from 'Despicable Me 2,' Pharrell Williams; 'Let It Go' from 'Frozen,' Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez; 'The Moon Song" from "Her,' Karen O and Spike Jonze; 'Ordinary Love' from 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,' Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen.

17. Costume: 'American Hustle,' 'The Grandmaster,' 'The Great Gatsby,' 'The Invisible Woman,' '12 Years a Slave.'

18. Documentary Feature: 'The Act of Killing,' 'Cutie and the Boxer,' 'Dirty Wars,' 'The Square,' '20 Feet from Stardom.'

19. Documentary (short subject): 'CaveDigger,' 'Facing Fear,' 'Karama Has No Walls,' 'The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,' 'Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall.'

20. Film Editing: 'American Hustle,' 'Captain Phillips,' 'Dallas Buyers Club,' 'Gravity,' '12 Years a Slave.'

21. Makeup and Hairstyling: 'Dallas Buyers Club,' 'Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,' 'The Lone Ranger.'

22. Animated Short Film: 'Feral,' 'Get a Horse!,' 'Mr. Hublot,' 'Possessions', 'Room on the Broom.'

23. Live Action Short Film: 'Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me),' 'Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything),' 'Helium,' 'Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?),' 'The Voorman Problem.'

24. Visual Effects: 'Gravity,' 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,' 'Iron Man 3,' 'The Lone Ranger,' 'Star Trek Into Darkness.'