Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach’s acclaimed divorce drama, and Martin Scorsese’s mob epic The Irishman are set to do battle at next year’s Golden Globes awards. Only one will prove victorious, but the distributor of both – Netflix – has already emerged triumphant.

This year’s nominations are an extraordinary validation of the streaming-service-turned-studio, which only received its first Globes nomination five years ago, and which had never before scored a best film drama nomination from the awards body.

This year, Netflix racked up a total of 17 nominations in the film categories – nine more than Sony Pictures, its nearest competitor among the Hollywood studios – thanks to Marriage Story, The Irishman, The Two Popes and Dolemite Is My Name.

It also leads the pack of TV networks, again taking 17 nominations – two more than runner-up HBO. Netflix’s dominance here is down to a spread of prestige shows including The Crown, Unbelievable, The Kominsky Method and The Politician.

Marriage Story, which tells the story of a separating couple played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, squeaks into frontrunner position for the film gongs with six nominations – for drama, screenplay, actor, actress, score (for Randy Newman) and best supporting actress (Laura Dern).

Baumbach was not recognised for his direction whereas Scorsese did get a directing nomination for The Irishman, alongside supporting actors Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, and screenwriter Steven Zaillian. The film is also up for best drama; leading actor Robert de Niro failed to make the cut – Adam Sandler was another surprise snub in the same category for Uncut Gems.

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Also getting five nods was Quentin Tarantino’s history-busting hymn to Tinseltown, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is up for best film (comedy or musical), best actor in a comedy or musical (for Leonardo DiCaprio), best supporting actor (Brad Pitt), best director and best screenplay.

The Two Popes was among the films which performed better than expected at Monday’s announcement, earning acclaim for actors Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins, as well as screenwriter Anthony McCarten. Rounding out the best drama shortlist is Joker, Todd Phillips’s box office record-breaking origins story about Batman’s cackling nemesis. That film got four nominations – for best actor for Joaquin Phoenix, for its director Phillips and for Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score.

British talent once again punched above its weight on both the big and small screens, with Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter and Tobias Menzies all up for awards for their work on the third series of stately royal series The Crown. Likewise Jodie Comer for Killing Eve, Helen Mirren for Catherine the Great and Chernobyl’s Emily Watson and Jared Harris.Phoebe Waller-Bridge is also in contention for Fleabag, along with her Irish co-star Andrew Scott.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Olivia Colman as Elizabeth II and Tobias Menzies as the Duke of Edinburgh in The Crown. Photograph: Des Willie/Netflix/PA

Kit Harington is in the running for the final series of Game of Thrones, as is Brian Cox for his role in Succession. Sacha Baron Cohen is again nominated, although not for his comedy work but his role as an undercover Mossad agent in The Spy.

Daniel Craig and Taron Egerton made the comedy film actor shortlist for their work on Knives Out and Rocketman, respectively; also in the running are DiCaprio, Jojo Rabbit’s child star Roman Griffin Davis, and Eddie Murphy for his comeback role in Dolemite Is My Name.

The drive for greater gender representation in the film industry was dealt a blow by the lack of any women on the best director list, despite Greta Gerwig and Lulu Wang being tipped for a spot. The former’s film, Little Women, only got two nods: best actress for Saoirse Ronan, and best score for Alexandre Desplat, meaning Gerwig’s screenplay was also locked out.

Wang’s The Farewell, meanwhile, will compete against frontrunner Parasite for the best foreign language film prize, while Awkwafina battles some unexpected foes – Late Night’s Emma Thompson, Knives Out’s Ana de Armas, Booksmart’s Beanie Feldstein and Cate Blanchett for Where’d You Go, Bernadette – for best actress in a comedy or musical.

A number of films not yet released feature on the list, including Sam Mendes’s first world war drama 1917, which has three nominations; sexual assault drama Bombshell, which has best actress in a drama and best supporting actress nods for Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie respectively; and Cats, for the new song Beautiful Ghosts – a collaboration between Taylor Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Cats has not yet been screened for critics; its lack of inclusion other than for best original song does not bode well for reviews. Bombshell co-star Nicole Kidman did not pick up a nomination for her portrayal of Gretchen Carlson – although her work on Big Little Lies means she will compete with Colman, Comer and The Morning Show’s Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon for best actress in a TV drama.

The nominations for the 77th awards were announced in Los Angeles by Dakota Fanning, Susan Kelechi Watson and Tim Allen alongside this year’s Golden Globe ambassadors Dylan and Paris Brosnan (children of Pierce).

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dakota Johnson, Susan Kelechi Watson, Tim Allen, Paris Brosnan and Dylan Brosnan at the announcement. Photograph: Matt Baron/REX/Shutterstock

Unlike the Oscars or Baftas, the Golden Globes are voted for by a small – and fairly secretive – group of international journalists working in the entertainment sphere and living in Los Angeles. The identities of the 90-strong group are not widely known, although one former president, Aida Takla O’Reilly, shot to fame following the publication in Egypt Air’s inflight magazine of a bizarre interview with Drew Barrymore. The interview, which was written by O’Reilly, included unfortunate phrasings and quotes that the actor was swift to dismiss as inaccurate.

This year’s ceremony will be held on 5 January 2020, with Ricky Gervais returning as host for a record fifth time. The comedian, who hosted the show between 2010 and 2012 and again in 2016, has again protested this will be his final stand at the podium. Announcing his change of heart last month, Gervais said that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had “made me an offer I can’t refuse. But this is the very last time I’m doing this, which could make for a fun evening”.

The Academy Awards, which are given out a month later, are expected to proceed without a host, following a warm reception for the ceremony in February, when a succession of guest presenters led proceedings.

• This article was amended on 10 December 2019. An earlier version incorrectly described the Irish actor Andrew Scott as British.