"Argo" took a big step toward becoming only the fourth film in the history of the Academy Awards to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination as it captured the Producers Guild Award on Saturday night.
Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures at the Producers Guild Awards, beating the producers of "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Django Unchained," "Skyfall," "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
"I'm really surprised. I'm not even in the PGA," Affleck joked while accepting the award. "I am still acting."
For Oscar experts, the PGA award is a significant Academy Awards precursor: Only seven times in 24 years has the Darryl F. Zanuck winner failed to capture Best Picture at the Oscars. The last five films to take home the PGA award also won on Oscar night.
"Lincoln" was a presumed favorite for the PGA award, alongside "Silver Linings Playbook." Both films, as well as "Argo," are up for Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which is the SAG equivalent of Best Picture. The SAG awards, another strong precursor, will be handed out on Sunday evening.
For more winners from the PGA awards, head over to THR.
