Los Angeles - The brooding Batman movie, The Dark Knight, picked up critical momentum Thursday when it won the People's Choice Awards, and its creator Chris Nolan was nominated for top prizes by both the Directors' and Writers' Guild of America.

The film - which starred Christian Bale as the superhero Batman and the late Heath Ledger as the Joker - won favourite film as well as favourite action film, cast, superhero and on-screen match up (of Bale and Ledger) in the People's Choice Awards.

The event marks the beginning of the US entertainment industry's awards season, which culminates with the Academy Awards in late February.

The DGA nomination marked the first time that a superhero movie has received such a recognition from the prestigious organization.

With Oscar ballots due to be mailed out in days, The Dark Knight's chances of winning an Oscar look good, even though the movie is not in strong contention at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night. Even there, however, it is expected to earn a best supporting actor prize for Ledger.

The DGA Award is a reliable indicator of best director at the Academy Awards with DGA winners going on to receive the Oscar 54 out of 60 times, including last year.

Vying with The Dark Knight at the DGA Awards are Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire, David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon and Gus Van Sant for Milk.

In the WGA nominations, The Dark Night competes in the adapted screenplay category with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire.

The best original screenplay nominations went to Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Burn After Reading, Milk and The Wrestler.