The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations on Tuesday for the 83rd annual Academy Awards.
The Oscars will be presented on February 27 at the Kodak Theater, a 3,300-seat venue in a Hollywood shopping mall. Actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway will host, reflecting the Academy's desire to enhance the ceremony's appeal to younger viewers.
Here are some key facts about the awards.
* "The King's Speech" led the field with 12 nominations, including best picture, director (Tom Hooper), actor (Colin Firth), supporting actress (Helena Bonham Carter) and supporting actor (Geoffrey Rush).
* The British royals drama has enjoyed mainstream success in North America, selling about $57 million worth of tickets. It has led the British box office for three weekends.
* "True Grit" followed with 10 nominations, while "The Social Network" and "Inception" were tied with eight, and "The Fighter" received seven.
* First-time nominated actors included Jesse Eisenberg ("The Social Network"), James Franco ("127 Hours"), Christian Bale ("The Fighter"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Winter's Bone"), Hailee Steinfeld ("True Grit") and Jacki Weaver ("Animal Kingdom").
* Previous winners nominated again included Javier Bardem ("Biutiful"), Jeff Bridges ("True Grit"), Geoffrey Rush ("The King's Speech") and Nicole Kidman ("Rabbit Hole").
* Awards will be presented in 24 categories.
* Last year's ceremony, in which "The Hurt Locker" took the best picture prize, averaged 41.7 million TV viewers in the United States, according to Nielsen Media Research, the biggest audience since 2005. The modern-day record is 55.2 million viewers in 1998, when "Titanic" dominated the event.
* The Oscar statuette presented to each winner is made in Chicago of gold-plated britannium, a metal alloy. Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statue is 13 1/2 inches tall and weighs 8 1/2 pounds.
* More than 5,700 members of the Academy -- including actors, directors, producers, studio executives, composers and behind-the-cameras crew -- cast secret ballots to determine the Oscar winners. Ballots will be mailed out to voters February 2 and are due back by February 22.