Brad Pitt stars in the romantic fantasy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Cate Blanchett. The film nabbed a leading 13 nominations for the Academy Awards on Thursday. (Paramount Pictures)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and award season favourite Slumdog Millionaire are among the films vying for the coveted best picture title at the Academy Awards.

Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt as a man whose appearance grows younger as he ages, nabbed a leading 13 nominations when they were announced in Los Angeles on Thursday morning.

Besides best picture, the drama picked up acting nods for star Pitt and supporting actress Taraji P. Henson as well as a directing nod for David Fincher.

The Mumbai-set rags-to-riches tale Slumdog, a darling among a host of critics' honours and at the Golden Globes earlier this month, also scored a hefty 10 nominations. Aside from best picture, it was also acknowledged with nods for director Danny Boyle and in the best adapted screenplay category.

Rounding out the best picture nominees are Frost/Nixon, The Reader and Milk, with the filmmaker behind each movie also nominated for best director: Ron Howard, Stephen Daldry and Gus Van Sant, respectively.

Comeback tale The Wrestler earned Academy Award acting nominations for supporting actress Marisa Tomei and star Mickey Rourke. (Niko Tavernise/Fox Searchlight)

Stiff competition for actors

Pitt faces tough competition for best actor, vying against acclaimed performances by comeback king Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler, a presidential Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon and Sean Penn's turn as politician and gay activist Harvey Milk in Milk.

Sneaking in as a surprise contender for the category is veteran actor Richard Jenkins for The Visitor, about a dreary professor whose life gets turned upside-down when he discovers strangers living in his New York apartment.

Pitt's real-life partner, Angelina Jolie, was long ago tapped by critics for a best actress Oscar nod for her performance in the missing-child drama Changeling.

Oscar favourite Meryl Streep is a contender as well for the acclaimed drama Doubt, joined by Anne Hathaway for her unglamorous turn in the family tale Rachel Getting Married, Melissa Leo for her role as a woman lured into smuggling immigrants in Frozen River and Kate Winslet for the Nazi war crime drama The Reader.

The Dark Knight's eight nominations includes a supporting actor nod for the late Heath Ledger. (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Widespread expectations that Heath Ledger, who died from an accidental drug overdose one year ago Thursday, would receive a best supporting actor nod for his chilling, diabolical performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight were fulfilled.

The comic book blockbuster also scored seven other nominations in technical categories.

Competing against the late Australian actor Ledger are Josh Brolin for Milk, Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder, Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt and Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road.

Doubt co-stars Amy Adams and Viola Davis will compete for the supporting actress title, along with Benjamin Button's Henson, past Oscar winner Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler and Penelope Cruz for the comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Nominees in other categories include:

• Documentary Feature: The Betrayal (Nerakhoon); Encounters at the End of the World; The Garden; Man on Wire; Trouble the Water.
• Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; John Patrick Shanley, Doubt; Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon; David Hare, The Reader; Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire.
• Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, Frozen River; Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky; Martin McDonagh, In Bruges; Dustin Lance Black, Milk; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, WALL*E.
• Art Direction: Changeling; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Dark Knight; The Duchess; Revolutionary Road.
• Cinematography: Changeling; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Dark Knight; The Reader; Slumdog Millionaire.
• Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; James Newton Howard, Defiance; Danny Elfman, Milk; A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire; Thomas Newman, WALL*E.
• Original Song: Down to Earth (WALL*E), Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire), A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; O Saya (Slumdog Millionaire), A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.

Wall*E unable to escape animation genre

Blockbuster Pixar animated film Wall*E, which was the past year's best reviewed film and submitted for contention as best picture, didn't manage to break into that category's coveted short list. It is, however, one of the three films vying for best animated feature, joining Bolt and Kung Fu Panda.

The acclaimed French film The Class, based on star Francois Begaudeau's book about teaching, is among the best foreign film contenders. (Pierre Milon/Sony Pictures Classics)

Quebec director Benoît Pilon's Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life) also failed to make the cut for the best foreign film title. Nominated are Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Class (from French director Laurent Cantet), Israel's animated war memoir Waltz With Bashir, Japanese film Departures, Revanche from Austria and Germany's The Baader Meinhof Complex.

The academy will present trophies in 24 categories.

The approximately 6,000 members of the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences vote for the winners.

Hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, the 81st Academy Awards will be presented from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on Feb. 22. This year's ceremony will also include a tribute to comedian, actor and longtime muscular dystrophy campaigner Jerry Lewis, who is the latest winner of the academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

With files from the Associated Press