RON HOWARD - DARK KNIGHT, MAN ON WIRE AND WALL-E UP FOR PGA AWARDS

DARK KNIGHT, MAN ON WIRE AND WALL-E UP FOR PGA AWARDS

The Dark Knight, Man on Wire and Wall-E have all been unveiled as nominees for the 2009 Producers' Guild of America (PGA) awards.

Having lain waste to box office records, Warner Bros' The Dark Knight has been named in the producer of the year category for feature films, previously won by No Country For Old Men, Little Miss Sunshine and The Aviator.

Also nominated are Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner for Frost/Nixon, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Cean Chaffin for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen for Milk and Christopher Colson for Slumdog Millionaire.

Simon Chin, the producer of Man on Wire - the critically-acclaimed story of tightrope walker Philippe Petit's attempt to walk between the World Trade Centre towers in 1974 - is included in the documentary producer of the year category.

His competition comes from the producers of War on Terror documentary Standard Operating Procedure and Trouble the Water, a look at the after effects of Hurricane Katrina.

And competing for the animated feature prize - won by Ratatouille in 2008 - are Pixar's Wall-E, Disney's Bolt and Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda.

The winner of the PGA award feature film award has gone on to win the best picture Oscar in 12 of the last 19 years.

The nominees for the 2009 Producers Guild awards are:The Darryl F Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
Man On Wire
Standard Operating Procedure
Trouble the Water

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E