The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has come away with three Academy Award nominations.
While that number matches the number of nods the first Hobbit film An Unexpected Journey got in 2013, they aren't all in the same categories.
Both Hobbit I and II got visual effects nominations but the second movie in the trilogy is up for sound editing and mixing. The first Hobbit was nominated in make-up/hairstyling, and production design.
All three of Smaug's nomination puts it in competition with Gravity, which is seen as a leading contender in the visual effects category for its 3D depiction of an astronaut's struggle for survival after her orbiting shuttle is wrecked by space debris.
Many of those named among Smaug's nominations are past nominees for Weta Digital and Park Road Post's work on previous films.
