'Birdman' and 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' were both nominated for the main accolade, Best Picture, but will face stiff competition from 'American Sniper', 'Boyhood', 'Selma', 'The Theory of Everything', 'Whiplash' and 'The Imitation Game', which has eight nods.

'American Sniper' and 'Boyhood' both got six nominations at in Thursday afternoon's announcement with the former's Bradley Cooper picking up a nod in the Best Actor category.

'The Theory of Everything' managed a nod in both the Best Actor and Best Actress categories thanks to Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, but, as well as Bradley, he will be up against Steve Carell ('Foxcatcher'), Benedict Cumberbatch ('The Imitation Game') and Michael Keaton ('Birdman').

Felicity will go up against Gone Girl's Rosamund Pike, but Wild's Reese Witherspoon will also be looking to get her hands on the trophy, as well as Marion Cotillard ('Two Days, One Night') and Julianne Moore ('Still Alice').

J.K. Simmons, fresh from his Best Supporting Actor win at the Golden Globes earlier this month, picked up a nomination in the same category at the Oscars, but will have to go up against Robert Duvall, Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo and Boyhood's Ethan Hawke.

The movie also got a nod in the Best Supporting Actress category through Patricia Arquette, but she will face stiff competition from Birdman's Emma Stone, Keira Knightley ('The Imitation Game'), Laura Dern ('Wild') and Into The Woods' Meryl Streep, who now has a career total of 19 nods, extending her lead as the most-nominated actress ever.

The first category announced was Best Song which saw John Legend, Adam Levine, Glen Campbell and Tegan & Sara's 'The Lego Movie' track all receive a nod.

However, there was no nod for the motion picture in the Animated Feature Film category as 'Big Hero 6', 'Boxtrolls', 'How To Train Your Dragon 2', 'Song of the Sea' and 'Tale of Princess Kaguya' were all nominated.

'American Sniper' picked up a nod in the Adapted Screenplay category, where 'The Imitation Game', 'Inherent Vice', 'The Theory of Everything' and 'Whiplash' were also recognised.

The Grand Budapest Hotel's Wes Anderson is nominated in the Directing category alongside Alejandro G. Inarritu ('Birdman'), Richard Linklater ('Boyhood'), Bennett Miller ('Foxcatcher') and Morten Tyldum ('The Imitation Game').

For the first time, the nominations were announced live in two separate sections with directors J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron reading the first section of nods and actor Chris Pine and academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announcing the second eight minutes later.

A selected list of Academy Award 2015 nominations:

Best Picture:

‘American Sniper’

‘Birdman’

‘Boyhood’

‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

‘The Imitation Game’

‘Selma’

‘The Theory of Everything’

‘Whiplash’

Best Actor:

Steve Carell, ‘Foxcatcher’

Bradley Cooper, ‘American Sniper’

Benedict Cumberbatch, ‘The Imitation Game’

Michael Keaton, ‘Birdman’

Eddie Redmayne, ‘The Theory of Everything’

Best Actress:

Marion Cotillard, ‘Two Days, One Night’

Felicity Jones, ‘The Theory of Everything’

Julianne Moore, ‘Still Alice’

Rosamund Pike, ‘Gone Girl’

Reese Witherspoon, ‘Wild’

Best Supporting Actor:

Robert Duvall, ‘The Judge’

Ethan Hawke, ‘Boyhood’

Edward Norton, ‘Birdman’

Mark Ruffalo, ‘Foxcatcher’

J.K. Simmons, ‘Whiplash’

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette, ‘Boyhood’

Laura Dern, ‘Wild’

Keira Knightley, ‘The Imitation Game’

Emma Stone, ‘Birdman’

Meryl Streep, ‘Into the Woods’

Directing:

Richard Linklater, ‘Boyhood’

Alejandro Gonzalez Innirutu, ‘Birdman’

Wes Anderson, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

Morten Tyldum, ‘The Imitation Game’

Bennett Miller, ‘Foxcatcher’

Animated Feature Film:

‘Big Hero 6’

‘The Boxtrolls’

‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’

‘Song of the Sea’

‘The Tale of Princess Kaguya’

Visual Effects:

‘Captain America’

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

‘Interstellar’

‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’