Sam Mendes looks to have put himself in pole position for the Oscar for Best Director, with the filmmaker taking home the top prize at the 2020 Directors Guild of America Awards for his World War One epic 1917.

Mendes took Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film, beating out the likes of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Bong Joon Ho and Taika Waititi for the honor.

The last time the DGA did not point the way to the Oscar winner was in 2013. Only two of the Directors Guild of America nominees, Ang Lee ("Life of Pi") and Steven Spielberg ("Lincoln"), also reaped Oscar bids.

The other three DGA nominees, Ben Affleck ("Argo"), Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty") and Tom Hooper ("Les Miserables"), were snubbed by the Oscars in favor of Michael Haneke ("Amour"), David O. Russell ("Silver Linings Playbook") and Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"). Lee won the Oscar race.

Source: Press Release