Producer's Guild Win Moves Birdman Into Pole Position

Birdman has flown away with the Producers Guild Association's coveted Daryl F. Zanuck award for best motion picture, moving the film into front-runner status for this year's Oscar race.

The previous 7 PGA winners have gone on to land the Best Picture Oscar.

Last year saw the first-ever tie in PGA history, split between Gravity and 12 Years A Slave, with Slave going on to win the Oscar gold. In the 25 year history of the PGA, the Zanuck award has been a forecaster of the Best Picture Oscar 18 times, including the last 7 years. The last variance occurred in 2006 when the PGA's Zanuck went to Little Miss Sunshine and Oscar gave the nod to The Departed. 

Last night, Birdman was also buoyed by winning the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild, nabbing SAG's Best Cast in a Motion Picture. Last year American Hustle won the SAG cast award, but failed to come away with an Academy win. The other SAG motion picture winners this year were Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash).

Oscar night is Sunday, February 22nd, less than a month away.