'Interstellar,' 'Theory of Everything' Up for 10 Oscars Sunday

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By Mike Wall
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Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones in the Stephen Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything," which was nominated for five Academy Awards.
Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones in the Stephen Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything," which was nominated for five Academy Awards. (Image credit: Focus Features)

Oscar night will hold a fair bit of drama for space fans this year.

Wormhole travel across the universe and supergiant black holes are just some of the wonders seen in the film "Interstellar." See how the science of "Interstellar" works in this infographic. (Image credit: By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist)

Two space-themed movies — Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic "Interstellar" and the Stephen Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything" — are up for a total of 10 Academy Awards, which will be announced Sunday night (Feb. 22).

"Interstellar," which follows the quest of a small band of explorers to find a new planet for humanity to call home, garnered nods for best original score, production design, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects.

"The Theory of Everything," meanwhile, was nominated for best picture, best actor (Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking), best actress (Felicity Jones as Hawking's first wife, Jane), best adapted screenplay and best original score.

"The Theory of Everything" isn't the only best picture nominee with some science chops. "The Imitation Game," which tells the story of brilliant English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing's work to crack the Nazis' Enigma code during World War II, also got a nod.

But the critical success of these two films — which together make up 25 percent of the best picture nominees — does not necessarily signal a great or increasing appreciation of science in society, said Katie McGill, a physics doctoral candidate at Cornell University.

"I think that these movies are about really interesting lives," McGill said Thursday (Feb. 19) during a "Science at the Oscars" Google+ Hangout that was hosted by the nonprofit Kavli Foundation. "They don't really get into the science as much."

Indeed, Hawking has battled through the crippling disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to become one of the most influential theoretical physicists since Albert Einstein. And Turing was gay during a time when engaging in "homosexual acts" could land you in prison in England. Despite his service to his country, Turing was prosecuted and eventually underwent chemical castration to avoid jail time.

Turing died of cyanide poisoning in 1954 at the age of 41. His death was ruled a suicide.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.