"The King's Speech" reigned supreme in Hollywood on Tuesday as Oscar voters bestowed 12 nominations on the British drama, including best picture, actor and director.

The film, revolving around wartime monarch King George VI's struggle to overcome a crippling stammer, led a field packed with commercial and critical hits.

"True Grit," a Western remake about a young girl's brave quest to track down her father's killer, received 10 nominations despite performing poorly in key critics awards. The film's writers/directors/producers, Joel and Ethan Coen, accounted for three of those nominations.

The Facebook drama, "The Social Network," the early favorite during awards season, received eight nominations, tying with the groundbreaking sci-fi thriller "Inception," one of 2010's biggest movies.

All will vie for best picture, a 10-film field rounded out by "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "The Kids Are All Right," "127 Hours," "Toy Story 3" and "Winter's Bone."

Initial consensus among critics indicated a tight race for the top prize between Columbia's "Social Network" and Weinstein Co's "King's Speech," with Paramount's "True Grit" a possible spoiler.

The films' respective studios will ramp up their campaigning in the lead-up to the 83rd annual awards show on February 27. Actor Kevin Spacey, a "Social Network" executive producer, said talk of a bitter contest was "a silly conversation."

"You guys like the horse race. I enjoy the work," he told the reporters.

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)