Sean Penn and Paul Thomas Anderson are among the filmmakers nominated for the prestigious Best Director Of 2007 honour by the Directors Guild Of America (DGA).

Penn and Anderson have received the nod for their respective acclaimed movies Into The Wild and There Will Be Blood.

The other directors in the running for the DGA honour are Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men, Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton, and Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell And The Butterfly.

The winner will be announced on January 26.

Since the DGA began handing out its Best Director award in 1949, only six winners have failed to go on to claim that year's equivalent Oscar.