U.S. Civil War-era drama "Lincoln" led the Golden Globe nominations on Thursday (December 13) with seven nods overall, including best drama and best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis...who will be challenged by Richard Gere for "Arbitrage," John Hawkes for "The Sessions," Joaquin Phoenix for "The Master" and Denzel Washington for "Flight."

Following "Lincoln," which just crossed the 100 million dollar (USD) mark at the domestic box office, were the Iran hostage drama "Argo" and Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" with five nods each.

Ben Affleck was among the best director nominees for "Argo." Among his competition includes Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty," the political thriller story about the ten year manhunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden; Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln," and Tarantino for the slavery-era Western "Django Unchained."

Meanwhile, "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" were nominated for best motion picture musical or comedy, with a surprise nod going to "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen."

Nominations for best actress in a drama went to Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty," Marion Cotillard for "Rust and Bone," Helen Mirren for "Hitchcock," Naomi Watts for "The Impossible" and Rachel Weisz for "The Deep Blue Sea."

The Golden Globe Awards, which will be given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, are among the most widely-watched honors programs, often providing a strong indicator for future Oscar success in February.