Brad Pitt won't face himself in best picture race

Brad Pitt can relaxhe wont be competing against himself in the best picture race. At least, not as a producer.

The actor already has been nominated as a producer of Moneyball, in which he stars, but on Friday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not include Pitt as one of the four credited producers on the best picture selection The Tree of Life, in which he also stars.

When Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning, the academy said the Tree of Life credits had not been finalized. When the film was released theatrically, five producers were listed in its credits: Pitt, his business partner Dede Gardner, director Terrence Malicks longtime collaborator Sarah Green, financier Bill Pohlad and Grant Hill, a veteran of Malicks The Thin Red Line.

The academy, following standards set by the Producers Guild of America, typically limits best picture nominees to no more than three producers, a consequence of the producer stampede when 1998s Shakespeare in Love won the top Oscar statuette.

The academys producers branch, working in collaboration with its executive committee, said The Tree of Life represented a "rare and extraordinary circumstance in which four producers could earn a credit. The academy determined that Gardner, Green, Pohlad and Hill would be eligible to collect the trophy should Tree of Life win.

When the nominations were announced, Pitt said he would be happy if Gardner was the sole representative from their company, Plan B Entertainment. Its a great problem, he said of the potential of facing himself. Pancakes for everybody.

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--John Horn

Photo: Brad Pitt in "The Tree of Life." Credit: Merrie Wallace/Fox Searchlight.