Birdman Soars After Scooping Best Movie Gong

A movie about a washed-up superhero actor has received a pre-Oscars boost by winning the Producers Guild of America's highest film award.

Michael Keaton's film Birdman scooped best picture at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The win gives momentum to Alejandro Inarritu's black comedy following its loss to The Grand Budapest Hotel in the Golden Globes' comedy category earlier this month.

Birdman is now neck and neck in the Oscars race with Richard Linklater's Boyhood, which won in the Globes' drama category and was filmed over 12 years to show one boy's coming of age.

Many of the PGA's 6,700 members are also Oscar voters and for the past seven years, its choices for top trophy went on to win the best picture prize at the Academy Awards.

Other films that were in the running for the PGA's top award this year included American Sniper, Boyhood, Foxcatcher, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash.

Notably absent was the movie about Martin Luther King - Selma - which had been named among the year's best films by various industry groups, and has an Oscar nomination.

Other PGA trophies went to The Lego Movie for animated feature, Life Itself for documentary film, Fargo for TV movie or mini-series, Breaking Bad for TV drama series, Orange is the New Black for TV comedy series, and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee for digital series.

The 87th annual Academy Awards will be presented on 22 February.