The nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced this morning by actress Anne Hathaway and Tom Sherak, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The announcement was read live from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.

Leading the nominations with nine mentions each are “The Hurt Locker” and James Cameron’s recent animated epic “Avatar“. James Cameron also holds a mention for Best Director, while “Avatar” hold a nomination for Best Picture.

One of the more anticipated changes for this year is that the 2010 Oscar nominations will feature ten nominations for Best Picture, instead of the traditional five. Included in this year’s Best Picture nominations are the animated film “Up”, “District 9″ and “Inglourious Basterds”, in addition to “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” mentioned above.

The 82nd Academy Awards is scheduled to air on March 7. A list of Oscar nominations is available over on Daily Contributor.