No best picture nomination for ‘Dreamgirls’

updated 12:39 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2007

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The dream of the top Academy Award is gone for the musical “Dreamgirls.”

It got eight Oscar nominations Tuesday, but not best picture — leaving the main prize up for grabs.

Will it be the sprawling global drama “Babel,” which placed second with seven nominations, or the mob epic “The Departed”? Could the palace tale “The Queen” be crowned best picture, or even “Little Miss Sunshine,” a road-trip romp that became last year’s independent-cinema darling?

“Nobody knows anything about these award ceremonies,” said Leonardo DiCaprio, a best-actor nominee for the African adventure “Blood Diamond.” “And that’s the fun everybody has watching the Academy Awards. That’s what’s exciting.”

DiCaprio was responding to his own prospects of winning, but his sentiments are especially true this year for the biggest trophy.

On a nominations day filled with surprises, the most unexpected was the downfall of “Dreamgirls,” considered a front-runner but which missed out on the fifth best-picture slot to the World War II saga “Letters From Iwo Jima.”

It was the first time ever that the film with the most nominations failed to earn a best-picture slot.

“Dreamgirls” did grab nominations for Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson, the favorites to win the supporting-acting prizes. Lead-performer front-runners Helen Mirren of “The Queen” and Forest Whitaker of “The Last King of Scotland” also were nominated, potentially leaving little drama in the outcome of the four acting categories.

Best-picture is anyone’s guess, though. Previous Hollywood honors usually narrow the field to a front-runner or two, but this season, top prize winners have been all over the place.

“Babel” won best drama and “Dreamgirls” took best musical or comedy at the Golden Globes, yet even then, awards watchers felt “The Departed” or “The Queen” could walk off with best picture come Oscar night Feb. 25.

Last weekend’s Producers Guild of America Awards muddied things up more as the low-budgeted “Little Miss Sunshine” was named best film over its big-studio rivals.

“Little Miss Sunshine” producer David Friendly said he never expected his film to win over such guild nominees as “The Departed” and “Dreamgirls,” especially when he saw who was presenting the award.

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“When Tom Cruise came walking out to give the picture-of-the-year award, I thought, ‘Well that’s it, we didn’t win,”’ Friendly said. “In my life, Tom Cruise doesn’t give me awards.”

Friendly had another surprise Tuesday when “Dreamgirls” failed to score a best-picture Oscar nomination.

“I was floored. That one I thought was a given. I actually feel badly because I thought it was a very nice film,” Friendly said. “This is the bitter side of this whole thing.”

Though Murphy and Hudson nabbed acting nominations for “Dreamgirls,” its director Bill Condon and lead players Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles were snubbed.

Hudson, who shot to fame two years ago as an “American Idol” finalist, and Murphy stole the show in “Dreamgirls” as soulful singers in Detroit’s 1960s and ’70s Motown scene.

Oscar attention is a new experience for Murphy, whose fast-talking persona has brought him devoted audiences but little awards acclaim in his 25-year career.

“I am deeply honored and humbled that the academy has chosen to recognize my performance in ‘Dreamgirls,”’ Murphy said in a statement. “Without a doubt receiving this nomination will stand out as one of the highlights of my career.”

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