Avatar: The Way of Water, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis have been nominated for best drama film at the Golden Globe awards when the ceremony returns to television after a year off following a diversity and ethics scandal.

The Banshees of Inisherin, a nominee for best comedy or musical film, led all movies with eight nominations on Monday from members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that hands out the Globes and announces the nominations.

The Avatar and Top Gun sequels will face off against Elvis, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans, and Tar, the story of a manipulative conductor, for the top prize of best drama film.

Banshees, a dark comedy about a man trying to repair a friendship, will compete with Everything Everywhere All at Once, Babylon, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Triangle of Sadness.

Australian Cate Blanchett was nominated for best drama actress for the lead role in Tar alongside Viola Davis in The Woman King and Ana de Armas for playing Marilyn Monroe in Blonde.

The Globes have been known as a glitzy, booze-fuelled ceremony that kicks off Hollywood’s awards season and helps propel nominees and winners in their quest for Oscars.

But the Globes were tainted after a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation probed the association’s practices and revealed the organisation had no black members.

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Tom Cruise returned his Golden Globe statues in protest, and longtime broadcaster NBC dropped the 2022 telecast.

The Comcast-owned network agreed to air the Globes again in 2023 after the organisation made reforms.

The ceremony will take place on January 10 and will also stream on Peacock.

Best actor nominees included Austin Butler for his portrayal of music legend Elvis Presley, Daniel Craig for Glass Onion and Colin Farrell for Banshees.

In television categories, comedy Abbott Elementary scored eight nominations, followed by royal family drama The Crown.

Searchlight Pictures, owned by Walt Disney Co, led all movie distributors with 12 nominations.

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In TV categories, Warner Bros Discovery’s HBO Max and Netflix Inc tied with 14 nods each.