The 43rd Annual Saturn Awards celebrated the best and the brightest in genre entertainment last night with Lucasfilm/Disney’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story capturing three statuettes in the Film Category, tying with Paramount’s science fiction thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane. One of the entertainment industry’s most highly-anticipated evenings, the yearly gathering of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films also bestowed Saturn gold to such television favorites (and previous Saturn Award vets) as AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” HBO’s “Westworld,” CW’s “Riverdale” and “Supergirl” and Starz’ “Outlander.” Hosted by fan favorite Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2), the festivities took place at the legendary Castaway in Burbank, California.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story won Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director (Gareth Edwards), and Best Special Effects (John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, Neil Corbould), while the psychological thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane nabbed Best Actress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Best Supporting Actor (John Goodman) honors in addition to Best Thriller Film. Two Saturn Awards each went to Marvel’s mind-bending epic Doctor Strange (Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture; Best Supporting Actress Tilda Swinton), Disney’s The BFG (Best Production Design Rick Carter & Robert Stromberg and Best Editing Michael Kahn), and Lionsgate’s La La Land (Best Independent Film and Best Music Justin Hurwitz).
Additional film winners include Best Horror Film to Don’t Breathe (Screen Gems/Sony), Disney’s The Jungle Book for Best Fantasy Film, the space race saga Hidden Figures (Fox) tapped as Best Action/Adventure Film, Pixar/Disney’s Finding Dory hooked Best Animated Film and Amazon/Magnolia’s The Handmaiden for Best International Film. Ryan Reynolds’ crowd-pleasing performance as the ultra-sarcastic superhero Deadpool won for Best Actor, with Tom Holland’s appearance as everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War earning recognition for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
The small screen always scores big at the Saturn Awards and tonight was no exception. The unstoppable walkers of AMC’s global TV phenomenon “The Walking Dead” proved just as invincible last night, garnering three Saturn Awards for Best Horror TV Series, Best Actor on Television (Andrew Lincoln), and Best Guest Star on Television (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). HBO’s “Westworld” 21st-century reboot outdrew the competition for two awards: Best Science Fiction TV Series and Best Supporting Actor on Television (Ed Harris). In a rare tie, Best New Media TV Series was split between “Marvel’s Luke Cage” and the retro hit “Stranger Things,” both on Netflix. 2017 also saw a new Saturn Award inaugurated in the Television category: Best Animated TV Series, won by Disney XD/Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars Rebels.” Other acting winners in the Television categories include Candace Patton (CW’s “The Flash”) for Best Supporting Actress on Television, and Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”) for Best Younger TV Actor.
Lee Majors, cherished by millions of fans as the iconic “Bionic Man” from the 1970s TV series “The Six Million Dollar Man”, received the Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by his fellow co-star Bruce Campbell from the cult favorite Starz series “Ash vs. Evil Dead.” For a career spanning almost a quarter century, Oscar-winning writer/producer/director Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) was cited with the rarely given Visionary Award. The Filmmakers Showcase Award was presented to the writing/producing team Rick Silver and Amanda Jaffe, for their continuing support and contributions to high-quality genre entertainment including the critically-acclaimed Apes film series reboots (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and this summer’s upcoming War for the Planet of the Apes), Jurassic World, and Disney’s live-action Mulan. The outrageous and irreverent Heavy Metal Magazine – celebrating its 40th anniversary this year – won a Special Recognition Award and KJ Apa of the CW’s “Riverdale” received the Breakthrough Performance Award.
The full list of winners at the 43rd Annual Saturn Awards:
FILM AWARDS
Best Science Fiction Film: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Lucasfilm / Walt Disney Studios)
Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture: Doctor Strange (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Best Fantasy Film: The Jungle Book (Walt Disney Studios)
Best Horror Film: Don’t Breathe (Screen Gems/Sony)
Best Action/Adventure Film: Hidden Figures (Fox)
Best Thriller Film: 10 Cloverfield Lane (Paramount)
Best International Film: The Handmaiden (Amazon / Magnolia)
Best Animated Film: Finding Dory (Pixar / Walt Disney Studios)
Best Independent Film: La La Land (Lionsgate)
Best Actor: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)
Best Actress: Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Best Supporting Actor: John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton (Doctor Strange)
Best Performance by a Younger Actor: Tom Holland (Captain America: Civil War)
Best Director: Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
Best Writing: Eric Heisserer (Arrival)
Best Production Design: Rick Carter & Robert Stromberg (The BFG)
Best Editing: Michael Kahn (The BFG)
Best Music: Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)
Best Costume: Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
Best Make-Up: Monica Huppert & Joel Harlow (Star Trek Beyond)
Best Special Effects: John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, Neil Corbould (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
TELEVISION AWARDS
Best Science Fiction TV Series: Westworld (HBO)
Best Horror TV Series: The Walking Dead (AMC)
Best Action/Thriller TV Series: Riverdale (The CW)
Best Fantasy TV Series: Outlander (Starz)
Best Presentation on Television: 11.22.63 (Hulu)
Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series: Supergirl (The CW)
Best New Media TV Series: Marvel’s Luke Cage (tie) & Stranger Things (Netflix)
Best Animated TV Series*: Star Wars Rebels (Disney XD/Lucasfilm)
Best Actor on Television: Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead)
Best Actress on Television: Melissa Benoist (Supergirl)
Best Supporting Actor on Television: Ed Harris (Westworld)
Best Supporting Actress on Television: Candice Patton (The Flash)
Best Younger TV Actor: Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things)
Best Guest Star on Television: Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead)
HOME ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS
Best DVD/BD Collection Release: Frankenstein: Complete Legacy Collection (Universal)
Best DVD/BD Television Series Release: Hannibal: The Complete Series Collection (Lionsgate)
Best DVD/BD Classic Film Release: Time After Time (Warner Archives)
Best DVD/BD Special Edition: Phantasm Remastered (Well Go USA)
Best DVD/BD Release: Tales of Halloween (Epic Pictures)
Best Local Stage Production: A View From the Bridge (Ahmanson Theatre)
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS FROM THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION,
FANTASY & HORROR FILMS
The Life Career Award: Lee Majors
The Visionary Award: Akiva Goldsman
The Filmmakers Showcase Award: Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver
Special Recognition Award: Heavy Metal Magazine
The Breakthrough Performance Award: KJ Apa (Riverdale)
(*) Inaugural Award for category
For more information about the Saturn Awards and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, visit www.saturnawards.org, www.youtube.com/c/OfficialSaturnAwardsChannel, and @SaturnAwards1.
