Saturn Awards
Current: 51st Saturn Awards
Official event logo
Awarded forBest in genre fiction film, television and home media releases
CountryUnited States
Presented byAcademy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films
First awarded1973
Websitewww.saturnawards.org

The Saturn Awards[1] are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films belonging to genre fiction, as well as television and home media releases. The Saturn Awards were created in 1973 and were originally referred to as Golden Scrolls.

History

The Saturn Awards were devised by Donald A. Reed in 1973, who felt that work in films in the genre of science fiction at that time lacked recognition within the established Hollywood film industry's award system.[2] Initially, the award given was a Golden Scroll certificate.[3] In the late 1970s, the award was changed to be a representation of the planet Saturn, with its ring(s) composed of film.

The Saturn Awards are voted upon by members of the presenting Academy. The Academy is a non-profit organization with membership open to the public. Its president and executive producer is Robert Holguin, and producer/writers Bradley Marcus and Kevin Marcus.[4] Its members include filmmakers J. J. Abrams, Bryan Singer, Steven Spielberg, Bryan Fuller, Mark A. Altman, Vince Gilligan and James Cameron, among others.[5]

Although the Awards still primarily focus on films and television in the science fiction, fantasy and horror categories, the Saturns have also recognized productions in other dramatic genres. There are also special awards for lifetime achievement in film production.

Following the 46th Saturn Awards held in 2021, the decision to rebrand what would have been the "47th Saturn Awards" to the "50th Saturn Awards", was made in order to celebrate 50 years of the Saturn Awards, which were founded in 1972. Subsequent ceremonies have continued with the new numbering.[6] The television categories were majorly overhauled at the 50th ceremony, with several categories being split to recognise both network/cable and streaming series however, these changes were reverted at the following ceremony. In 2023, the nominations announcement and awards process for the 51st Saturn Awards was postponed by several months in solidarity with the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.[7]

Award categories

Film

Television

Home video

Special awards

Discontinued awards

Records

Superlative Record-holder Record set Year Notes
Most awards for a person James Cameron 13 awards[a] 2022/23 Awards resulted from 15 nominations[a]
Most nominations for a person John Williams 23 nominations[b] 2022/23 Nominations resulted in 9 wins[b]
Most awards for a film Star Wars 14 awards[c] 1977 Retroactively won one award out of two nominations as part of various compilations in the Best DVD Movie Collection category.[d]
Most nominations for a film 12 nominations[c]
Most awards for a TV series The Walking Dead 25 awards[e] 2021/22
Most nominations for a TV series 62 nominations[e]
Most awards for acting Anna Torv 4 awards 2012 Awards resulted from 5 nominations
Robert Downey Jr. 2018/19 Awards resulted from 8 nominations
Caitríona Balfe 2022/23 Awards resulted from 8 nominations
Patrick Stewart 2022/23 Awards resulted from 7 nominations
Most nominations for acting Tom Cruise 12 nominations 2021/22 Nominations resulted in 2 wins
Most awards for directing James Cameron 6 awards 2022/23 Awards resulted from 7 nominations
Most nominations for directing Steven Spielberg 14 nominations 2021/22 Nominations resulted in 4 awards
Most awards for writing Christopher Nolan 4 awards 2014 Awards resulted from 6 nominations
James Cameron 2022/23 Awards resulted from 7 nominations
Most nominations for writing Peter Jackson 7 nominations 2014 Nominations resulted in 1 win
Fran Walsh 2014 Nominations resulted in 1 win
Quentin Tarantino 2018/19 Nominations resulted in wins
Guillermo del Toro 2021/22 Nominations resulted in 1 award
James Cameron 2022/23 Nominations resulted in 4 awards
Most awards for a film series Star Wars 49 awards[f] 2019/20
Most nominations for a film series Marvel Cinematic Universe 170 nominations[g] 2022/23
Most nominations for a television franchise at a single ceremony Star Trek Universe 14 nominations[h] 2022/23 Nominations resulted in 5 wins

Notes

  1. ^ a b received 3 honorary awards, which don't count toward nomination totals.
  2. ^ a b received 1 honorary award, which don't count toward nomination totals.
  3. ^ a b Star Wars was nominated for 12 and won eight competitive awards; the actual number of wins includes five special non-competitive awards that don't count toward nomination totals and were given out in recognition of its outstanding technical achievements such as art direction, cinematography, editing, set decoration, and sound. In addition, the Academy presented a special award in 1997 for the film's 20th anniversary.
  4. ^ Those include two compilations: The Star Wars Trilogy (2004), which comprises the franchise's first three installments; and Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2012), which comprises both the original trilogy and its prequels. Out of these, the Star Wars Trilogy won.
  5. ^ a b The Walking Dead (2010–2022) was nominated for 62 and won 24 competitive awards throughout its run, which lasted for 11 seasons. In addition, the Academy presented a special award, which doesn't count toward nomination totals, in 2024 for the cast and creators of The Walking Dead franchise.
  6. ^ Those include 14 (including 6 non-competitive) wins for Star Wars (1977), 4 wins for The Empire Strikes Back (1980), 5 wins for Return of the Jedi (1983), 2 wins for The Phantom Menace (1999), 2 wins for Attack of the Clones (2002), 1 win for The Star Wars Trilogy (2004), a compilation of the franchise's first three installments, 2 wins for Revenge of the Sith (2005), 8 wins for The Force Awakens (2015), 3 wins for Rogue One (2016), 3 wins for The Last Jedi (2017), and 5 wins for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
  7. ^ Those include 8 nominations for Iron Man (2008), 1 nomination for The Incredible Hulk (2008), 4 nominations for Iron Man 2 (2010), 4 nominations for Thor (2011), 7 nominations for Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), 6 nominations for The Avengers (2012), 5 nominations for Iron Man 3 (2013), 5 nominations for Thor: The Dark World (2013), 11 nominations for Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), 9 nominations for Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), 4 nominations for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), 6 nominations for Ant-Man (2015), 8 nominations for Captain America: Civil War (2016), 10 nominations for Doctor Strange (2016), 4 nominations for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), 4 nominations for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), 2 nominations for Thor: Ragnarok (2017), 14 nominations for Black Panther (2018), 2 nominations for Avengers: Infinity War (2018), 3 nominations for Captain Marvel (2019), 14 nominations for Avengers: Endgame (2019), 4 nominations for Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), 7 nominations for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), 1 nomination for Eternals (2021), 9 nominations for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), 4 nominations for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), 3 nominations for Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), 3 nominations for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), 1 nomination for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), and 7 nominations for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).
  8. ^ Those include 7 nominations for the third and final season of Picard, six nominations for the second season of Strange New Worlds, and one nomination for the third season of animated series Lower Decks.

Year-by-year results

The year indicates the year of release of the films eligible.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror ... and the Saturn Goes to ..." The Huffington Post. July 21, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  2. ^ About the founder: Dr. Donald A. Reed (1935–2001)
  3. ^ Fxperts - Saturn Award history Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  4. ^ Membership and / or Donation information
  5. ^ "The Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror Films". Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  6. ^ "ElectricNOW Will Air the 50th Anniversary Saturn Awards Show". Electric Entertainment. December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "Saturn Awards Nominations Announcement". Saturn Awards. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.

External links

Saturn Awards
Film awards
Science fiction
Fantasy fiction
Categories