The Aviator is flying high with11 nominations, but Million Dollar Baby could score a knockout at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night at the Kodak Theater here.

Clint Eastwood's boxing drama has seven chances for Oscar gold,as does Finding Neverland, while Ray and the critically acclaimed Sideways could also make strong showings with six and five nods, respectively.

The Aviator, a Martin Scorsese-directed Howard Hughes biopic, was named best drama at the Golden Globes last month. The winner of that award has gone on to win the best picture Oscar 16 times since 1980.

Eastwood won the Directors Guild of America's top award for Million Dollar Baby, another good barometer for the Oscar for bestdirector, which in turn is a strong predictor for a best picture win.

Only six times since the DGA Award's inception in 1949 has the winner not gone on to receive the Academy Award for best director.Also during that time, the movie directed by the best director Oscar winner has won best picture honors 44 of 55 times.

Among the other contenders for the top prize is Sideways, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's choice for best comedy or musical at the Globes, and which also won in all six categories for which it was nominated, including best feature, at Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards.

But if Oscar history holds, the dramas in the field have the strongest shot.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' voters have traditionally rewarded dramas over comedies or musicals. Exceptions include the best picture winners Chicago in 2002 and 1998's Shakespeare in Love.

It could be a big night for the 74-year-old Eastwood, who's also up for best actor and could share a best picture Oscar as co-producer of Million Dollar Baby. A best actor win would be a firstfor Eastwood, already a best director winner for 1992's Unforgiven.

But Jamie Foxx is widely viewed as the frontrunner in the best actor race for his dead-on portrayal of singer Ray Charles, a performance that has already netted him a host of honors.

Foxx could make Oscar history tonight. He's also a nominee for best supporting actor for his work in Collateral. No one has won in both acting categories in the same year.

The best actress field has one previous winner, Hilary Swank, who took home the award for 1999's Boys Don't Cry in a field that included Annette Bening, also a nominee this year.

Swank, 30, is nominated this year for her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of Maggie Fitzgerald, a hard-on-her-luck waitress who becomes a champion boxer in Million Dollar Baby.

The best foreign language picture nominees are Sweden's As It Is in Heaven, France's The Chorus (Les Choristes), Downfall from Germany, The Sea Inside from Spain and South Africa's Yesterday.

But two of the most polupar films, The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11, will have little presence during the ceremony.

The Passion of the Christ, a drama about the Christ's last hours directed by Mel Gibson, was bypassed in major categories, received only nominations for cinematography, makeup and original score.

While Fahrenheit 9/11, the anti-Bush documentary on the September 11 terrorist attacks and the war on Iraq, was shut out totally from Oscars.

The Oscar ceremony, which will be televised live on ABC, will be seen in 195 countries.