Summary The 5,400-member PGA gave its Darryl F. Zanuck award jointly to Affleck.
LOS ANGELES: Ben Affleck s Iran hostage crisis drama "Argo" won the top prize at the Producers Guild of America (PGA) awards Saturday, in a new boost to its Oscars prospects.
The 5,400-member PGA gave its Darryl F. Zanuck award jointly to Affleck, who also directed and stars in the movie, with his co-producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov.
The PGA award is seen as a key indicator of Oscars success: nine out of the last 12 winners have gone on to take the coveted best picture prize at the Academy Awards, including in every year since 2008.
"Argo" caused a surprise by winning best picture and best director for Affleck at this month s Golden Globes, and is nominated in seven categories for the all-important Oscars, to be held on February 24.
It tells the story of a daring CIA mission to rescue six US diplomats who took refuge in the Canadian embassy in Tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis, bringing them out disguised as crew members for a Hollywood sci-fi film.
The movie s rival nominees for the top PGA award included all of the main movies jostling for glory as Hollywood s annual awards season moves towards its climax.
Steven Spielberg s political drama "Lincoln" leads the Oscar nominations with 12 nods, followed by Ang Lee s 3D adventure "Life of Pi" with 11, and musical "Les Miserables" and romcom "Silver Linings Playbook" both with eight.
