Firth 'a dead cert' for Best Actor Oscar

'The King’s Speech' is in the running for 12 gongs, more than any other film at the 83rd Academy Awards.

Its raft of nominations include best film, best actor for Firth, best supporting actress for Helena Bonham Carter for her role as Queen Elizabeth, and supporting actor for Geoffrey Rush, who plays an unorthodox speech therapist in the British movie.

It is also up for best director for British film-maker Tom Hooper, cinematography, and original screenplay.

Film critic Mark Kermode expects a successful night for Firth.

He said: “You can always have surprises, that said I think Colin Firth is as close as you can get to a dead cert for the Oscars.”

Firth, 50, has also landed a Golden Globe for his performance.

Speaking after his Oscar nomination was revealed, he said: “Currently celebrating with my colleagues three feet above the ground. Not used to this much joy, or this much champagne at this hour.”

He told ITV News: “It’s great, and it’s the fact that so many of us are there, a royal flush. That’s the best thing about it really, we’ll be going together.”

The King’s Speech is thought to have been made for a relatively low £9m (€10.5m) but has exceeded expectations by taking more than £18m (€21m) at the UK box office alone so far.

Meanwhile, Welsh-born Christian Bale is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a drug addict in 'The Fighter'.

Reclusive graffiti artist Banksy is also in the running for an award after his film 'Exit Through The Gift Shop' was nominated for Best Documentary.

The list of nominations is:

BEST PICTURE:

- 'Black Swan'

- 'The Fighter'

- 'Inception'

- 'The Kids Are All Right'

- 'The King's Speech'

- '127 Hours'

- 'The Social Network'

- 'Toy Story 3'

- 'True Grit'

- 'Winter's Bone'

BEST DIRECTOR:

- Darren Aronofsky for 'Black Swan'

- David O. Russell for 'The Fighter'

- Tom Hooper for 'The King's Speech'

- David Fincher for 'The Social Network'

- Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for 'True Grit'

BEST ACTOR:

- Javier Bardem in 'Biutiful'

- Jeff Bridges in 'True Grit'

- Jesse Eisenberg in 'The Social Network'

- Colin Firth in 'The King's Speech'

- James Franco in '127 Hours'

BEST ACTRESS:

- Annette Bening in 'The Kids Are All Right'

- Nicole Kidman in 'Rabbit Hole'

- Jennifer Lawrence in 'Winter's Bone'

- Natalie Portman in 'Black Swan'

- Michelle Williams in 'Blue Valentine'

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

- Christian Bale in 'The Fighter'

- John Hawkes in 'Winter's Bone'

- Jeremy Renner in 'The Town'

- Mark Ruffalo in 'The Kids Are All Right'

- Geoffrey Rush in 'The King's Speech'

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

- Amy Adams in 'The Fighter'

- Helena Bonham Carter in 'The King's Speech'

- Melissa Leo in 'The Fighter'

- Hailee Steinfeld in 'True Grit'

- Jacki Weaver in 'Animal Kingdom'

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

- 'How to Train Your Dragon'

- 'The Illusionist'

- 'Toy Story 3'

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

- 'Biutiful' (Mexico)

- 'Dogtooth' (Greece)

- 'In a Better World' (Denmark)

- 'Incendies' (Canada)

- 'Outside the Law' (Algeria)