The Oscar awarded to Orson Welles for Best Original Screenplay for his 1941 film 'Citizen Kane' is shown at Sotheby's in New York October 12. The Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based non-profit group that supports various educational, health and other groups aiding people and animals, is putting the award to auction, in hopes it could bring $800,000 to $1.2 million. - file

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George Clooney and Cate Blanchett are set for Oscars glory following the announcement of yesterday's Academy Award nominations.

The Hollywood stars are up for the night's most prestigious accolades, with Clooney nominated for Best Actor for his performance in 'Michael Clayton', while Blanchett is in the running for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for her turns in 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' and Bob Dylan biopic 'I'm Not There' respectively.

'Michael Clayton' - which is in the running for seven prizes in total - is also up for the coveted Best Picture award, but will face stiff competition from Joel and Ethan Coen's 'No Country for Old Men' and director Paul Thomas Anderson's 'There Will Be Blood', which top the nominations list with eight nods each.

Also on the shortlist are British World War II drama 'Atonement' - which has been named in seven categories - and 'Juno', an independent film about a teenage girl's unplanned pregnancy.

The event's organisers insist the 80th Academy Awards will definitely go ahead with a star-studded ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in California on February 24, despite the current Hollywood writers' strike which saw the Golden Globes ceremony cancelled earlier this month.

80th Academy Awards main nominations:

Best Picture

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

Actor In A Leading Role

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

George Clooney, Michael Clayton

Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Actress In A Leading Role

Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose

Ellen Page, Juno

Julie Christie, Away from Her

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Laura Linney, The Savages

Actor In A Supporting Role

Javier Bardem, 'No Country for Old Men

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War

Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild

Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Actress in a leading role

Ruby Dee, American Gangster

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Directing

Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jason Reitman, Juno

Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

Animated feature film

Persepolis

Ratatouille

Surf's Up

Foreign language film

Beaufort, Israel

The Counterfeiters, Austria

Katyn, Poland

Mongol, Kazakhstan

12, Russia

Music (song)

'Falling Slowly' from 'Once' (performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)

'Happy Working Song' from 'Enchanted' (performed by Amy Adams)

'Raise It Up' from 'August Rush' (performed by Jamia Simone Nash and Impact

Repertory Theatre)

'So Close' from 'Enchanted' (performed by Jon McLaughlin)

'That's How You Know' from 'Enchanted' (performed by Amy Adams)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

'Atonement '

'Away from Her'

'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'

'No Country for Old Men'

'There Will Be Blood'