Day-Lewis and Christie lead Brit Oscar chase

Atonement is in the running for Best Picture at next month's Oscars with Julie Christie and Daniel Day-Lewis also carrying British hopes.

Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, Juno and There Will Be Blood will also potentially be the name in the envelope to claim the industry's top gong.

Christie and Day-Lewis lead the British hopes for acting honours and the omens for the pair are good, each having already scooped Golden Globes for their roles in Away From Her and There Will Be Blood.

Christie is up against Australian actress Cate Blanchett who earned a nod for her role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

The other lead-actress contenders are France's actress Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose, Laura Linney for The Savages and Canadian actress Ellen Page for Juno.

Blanchett received a further nomination for her supporting role as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.

In the lead actor race, Day-Lewis will compete against Michael Clayton star George Clooney, Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises.

The glitzy ceremony is scheduled for February 24 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

However with the US writers' strike now in its 12th week, doubt remains as to whether the biggest night in the Hollywood calendar will take place.

Organisers have vowed that the televised ceremony will go ahead - unlike the Golden Globes, which were reduced to a news conference.

And the Writers' Guild of America is expected to sit down with studio bosses this week in an attempt to thrash out a deal.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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