( dpa )- Sean Penn and brothers Joel and Ethan Coen were among the five nominees for the Directors Guild of America's awards for 2007, the association said Tuesday.
Penn was named for his drama Into the Wild and the Coen brothers were nominated for No Country for Old Men in the directing award, another of the many prizes leading up to the Academy Awards.
Other candidates included Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood, Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton and Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
The prize will be awarded January 26. In its 60 year history, there have been only six times when the award's winner did not also receive the Oscar for best director.
No Country for Old Men also took home honors as best picture and for best director at Monday's Critics' Choice Awards. Other winners there were Daniel Day-Lewis - best actor for There Will Be Blood and Julie Christie - best actress for Away From Her. Javier Bardem took home best supporting actor kudos for No Country for Old Men, and Amy Ryan won best supporting actress for Gone Baby Gone. The musical Hairspray took the prize for best acting ensemble.