The Academy announced today that the Visual Effects race has been shortlisted further to ten potential nominees. Only the films on this list can get nominated. I don’t see any real surprises here, but I haven’t had a chance to thoroughly look at them.

10 Contenders Remain in VFX Oscar® Race

Beverly Hills, CA (January 4, 2012) – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 84th Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

• “Captain America: The First Avenger”
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
• “Hugo”
• “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
• “Real Steel”
• “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
• “The Tree of Life”
• “X-Men: First Class”

All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, January 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.