George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road has led Australia to a record haul of Oscar nominees.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences showered the great Australian filmmaker's fourth instalment of the Mad Max franchise on Thursday with 10 nominations.

Just Alejandro Inarritu and Leonardo DiCaprio's collaboration, The Revenant, with 12, scored more nominations.

Both awards are up for Best Film, alongside The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Martian, Room and Spotlight.

Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of survival epic The Revenant, is up for best actor. He's been nominated four times but has yet to win an Academy Award.

Adding to the Australian Oscar haul was Cate Blanchett, nominated for best actress for her romantic-drama Carol.

Veteran Queensland-born filmmaker Miller had planned to shoot Fury Road in the Australian outback, but when unseasonal rain turned the arid landscape into beautiful wildflowers he was forced to move it to the west African nation of Namibia.

He took his mostly Australian crew and that was rewarded with the Oscar nominations.
The film was also partly shot at Fox Studios in Sydney.

Miller's wife Margaret Sixel, who edited the film, his longtime producing partner Doug Mitchell and veteran Australian cinematographer John Seale were among the Australian Fury Road nominees.

Miller will compete with Inarritu for best director.

Miller and Mitchell, as producers, are also in the hunt for best picture against The Revenant, The Martian, Room, Spotlight, Brooklyn, The Big Short and Bridge of Spies.

Other Australian Fury Road nominees are: production designers Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson; sound mixer Ben Osmo; sound editor David White; makeup and hair artists Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin; and Andrew Jackson and Dan Oliver for visual effects.

Australia's previous record for nominees was in 2002 when Baz Lurhmann's Moulin Rouge led an Australian contingent of 13 Oscar nods.

The 88th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on February 28.

FULL LIST OF NOMINEES

BEST PICTURE

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Room
• Spotlight

 

BEST ACTOR

• Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
• Matt Damon, The Martian
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

 

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett, Carol
• Brie Larson, Room
• Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
• Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Christian Bale, The Big Short
• Tom Hardy, The Revenant
• Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
• Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
• Sylvester Stallone, Creed

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
• Rooney Mara, Carol
• Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
• Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
• Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

 

DIRECTING

• Adam McKay - The Big Short
• George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant
• Lenny Abrahamson - Room
• Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

 

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Anomalisa
• Boy and the World
• Inside Out
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• When Marnie Was There

 

COSTUME DESIGN

• Carol
• Cinderella
• The Danish Girl
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant

 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Amy
• Cartel Land
• The Look of Silence
• What Happened, Miss Simone?
• Winter on Fire

 

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

• Body Team
• Chau, Beyond the Lines
• Claude Lanzmann
• A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
• Last Day of Freedom

 

MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
• The Revenant

 

ORIGINAL SONG

• "Earned It" - Fifty Shades of Grey
• "Manta Ray" - Racing Extinction
• "Simple Song #3" - Youth
• "Til It Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground
• "Writing's on the Wall" - Spectre

 

ANIMATED SHORT

• Bear Story
• Prologue
• Sanjay's Super Team
• We Can't Live Without Cosmos
• World of Tomorrow

 

SOUND EDITING

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Sicario
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• The Martian
• The Revenant

 

FILM EDITING

• The Big Short
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Spotlight
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Embrace of the Serpent
• Mustang
• Son of Saul
• Theeb
• A War

 

ORIGINAL SCORE

• Bridge of Spies
• Carol
• The Hateful Eight
• Sicario
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Bridge of Spies
• The Danish Girl
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant

 

VISUAL EFFECTS

• Ex Machina
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• The Big Short
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• The Martian
• Room

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Bridge of Spies
• Ex Machina
• Inside Out
• Spotlight
• Straight Outta Compton

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Carol
• The Hateful Eight
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Sicario