SKYFALL LEADS THE WAY IN THE 18th JAMESON EMPIRE AWARDS NOMINATIONS

Sam Mendes’ Skyfall, recently crowned the biggest-ever UK box-office hit, leads the pack with six nominations for the Jameson Empire Awards 2013, it is announced today.

Joss Whedon’s Avengers Assemble and Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey follow closely behind with five nominations apiece, while British indie hit Sightseers keeps pace with Hollywood with four nominations.

Now in its 18th year, the Jameson Empire Awards has come of age and is firmly established in the ‘Awards Season’ calendar as an antidote to more formal, industry-voted awards. The Jameson Empire Awards are voted for entirely by the cinemagoing public, who have been voting in their thousands for their favourite films and performances of the past year. The public can now vote on the final shortlisted nominees and acknowledge films that may have missed out at other awards ceremonies. Film fans across the globe can vote at: www.empireonline.com/awards2013

Skyfall tops off its huge box-office success, in James Bond’s 50th anniversary year, with nominations across six categories: Best Thriller, Best British Film, Best Director, Jameson Best Actor (Daniel Craig), Best Actress presented by Citroën (Dame Judi Dench), and Best Film presented by Sky Movies.

Avengers Assemble and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey go head-to-head in five categories: Best Science-Fiction/Fantasy (with strong competition from Looper, Prometheus and Dredd 3D), The Art Of 3D presented by RealD (up against Life Of Pi, Dredd 3D and Prometheus), Best Director and Best Film. Lead actors Robert Downey Jr. and Martin Freeman will fight it out in the Jameson Best Actor category against Daniel Craig, plus Oscar-winners Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained).

Sightseers picks up four nominations: one each for lead actors and co-writers Steve Oram and Alice Lowe in the Best Male Newcomer presented by Entertainment Tonight and Best Female Newcomer categories, plus nods for Best British Film and Best Horror presented by Café de Paris. Also competing for Best Horror are Sinister, The Woman In Black, Dark Shadows and The Cabin In The Woods.

The Jameson Empire Awards also recognises emerging talent. Best Male Newcomer includes two nominations for Life Of Pi, with Suraj Sharma and Rafe Spall up against Domhnall Gleeson (Anna Karenina), Steve Oram (Sightseers) and Tom Holland (The Impossible). Best Female Newcomer has Sightseers’ Alice Lowe joined by Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina), Samantha Barks (Les Misérables), Holliday Grainger (Great Expectations) and Quvenzhané Wallis, the youngest-ever Best Actress Oscar nominee, for Beasts Of The Southern Wild.

Best Actress presented by Citroën sees Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence nominated for performances in different films from those for which they won their Oscars: Hathaway for her role in The Dark Knight Rises and Lawrence for The Hunger Games. They will compete against Dame Judi Dench (Skyfall), Golden Globe-winner Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) and Naomi Watts (The Impossible).

Best Thriller sees the might of Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar-winner Argo take on Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty, plus popular foreign-language hits Jo Nesbo’s Headhunters and The Raid. Best Comedy presented by Magic 105.4 will be hard-fought, with the multi-award-winning Silver Linings Playbook competing with Ted, Moonrise Kingdom, 21 Jump Street and The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!.

The best of the UK’s film talent will vie for the coveted title of Best British Film, with Skyfall up against Les Misérables, Sightseers, Dredd 3D and The Woman In Black.

Five of the biggest directors in the world will compete for the prize of Best Director and Best Film presented by Sky Movies, with Sam Mendes (Skyfall) taking on Joss Whedon (Avengers Assemble), Peter Jackson (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) and Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained).

The Jameson Empire Awards 2013 Nominations

Best Male Newcomer presented by Entertainment Tonight

• Domhnall Gleeson (Anna Karenina)
• Rafe Spall (Life Of Pi)
• Steve Oram (Sightseers)
• Suraj Sharma (Life Of Pi)
• Tom Holland (The Impossible)

Best Female Newcomer

• Alice Lowe (Sightseers)
• Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina)
• Holliday Grainger (Great Expectations)
• Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)
• Samantha Barks (Les Misérables)

Best Comedy presented by Magic 105.4

• 21 Jump Street
• Moonrise Kingdom
• The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Ted

Best Science-Fiction/Fantasy

• Dredd 3D
• Looper
• Avengers Assemble
• Prometheus
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Best Thriller

• Argo
• Jo Nesbo’s Headhunters
• Skyfall
• The Raid
• Zero Dark Thirty

Best Horror presented by Café de Paris

• Dark Shadows
• Sightseers
• Sinister
• The Cabin In The Woods
• The Woman In Black

The Art Of 3D presented by RealD

• Dredd 3D
• Life Of Pi
• Avengers Assemble
• Prometheus
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Best British Film

• Dredd 3D
• Les Misérables
• Sightseers
• Skyfall
• The Woman In Black

Best Director

• Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises)
• Joss Whedon (Avengers Assemble)
• Peter Jackson (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
• Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
• Sam Mendes (Skyfall)

Jameson Best Actor

• Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
• Daniel Craig (Skyfall)
• Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
• Martin Freeman (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
• Robert Downey Jr. (Avengers Assemble)

Best Actress presented by Citroën

• Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises)
• Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games)
• Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
• Dame Judi Dench (Skyfall)
• Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Best Film presented by Sky Movies

• Django Unchained
• Avengers Assemble
• Skyfall
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Jameson Empire Awards 2013 - Voting Opens

Film fans across the globe have the opportunity to make their voices heard as open voting commences for the Jameson Empire Awards 2013 on Thursday November 29. The awards ceremony takes place on Sunday March 24 in London and is expected to attract a host of star names from the film industry.

The Jameson Empire Awards are not voted for by the film industry or critics — they are one of the biggest awards ceremonies to offer film fans the opportunity to have their voices heard. Hot on the heels of the Oscars and BAFTAs, the Awards allow film fans and casual cinemagoers alike to vote for their favourite films and performances of the past year. Voters can choose from films released in the period January 27, 2012 – January 25, 2013 in a variety of categories including: Best Male and Female Newcomer, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, The Art Of 3D (presented by RealD), Best Comedy (presented by Magic 105.4), Best British Film, Best Actress and the Jameson Best Actor.

Empire is now the biggest movie brand in the world, with Empire magazine outselling all other movie magazines internationally by an average of 2 to 1. Coupled with its bespoke editions in the US, Australia, Russia, Portugal and Italy, as well as Empire Online’s global readership of 2.8 million, the brand’s reach extends to over 5 million movie fans across the planet, making Empire the go-to brand for film fans and filmmakers across the world.

Even with the nation's eyes turned to Her Majesty's diamond jubilee and the Olympics, 2012 set its own record breaking year at the UK box (with Bond's return in Skyfall alone making an unprecedented £100m, Avengers Assemble becoming the third biggest movie of all time and The Dark Knight Rises helping to drive over one billion people into the cinema), maintaining cinema-going as the nation's leading and most passionate pastime. Never has film had such an influence on people's hearts and minds, and Empire stands tall as the most influential movie brand both in the UK and around the world, launching in America, and breaking the world exclusives on each of these major movies, as well as becoming the global home of Hobbit coverage across the planet. Film is, simply, tearing up the rule book of entertainment dominating the zeitgeist more than ever in its entire history, and Empire is there every step of the way, in its own way thrilling readers with editorial innovation across all platforms: print, digital, events, and podcasts.

Each year, the Jameson Empire Awards attract some of the biggest names in Hollywood, with last year’s guests including: Gary Oldman, Danny DeVito, Bérénice Marlohe, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston and Michael Fassbender. Previous years’ guests have included: Tim Burton, Russell Crowe, Daniel Radcliffe, Keira Knightley, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Sigourney Weaver, Emma Watson, Tony Curtis, Quentin Tarantino, Kate Winslet and Dustin Hoffman. Because the Awards are voted for by the public they honour an eclectic mix of films, from big-budget blockbusters to independent cinema. Previous winners have included: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows — Part 2, Thor, Kill List, The Inbetweeners Movie, Avatar, Inception, Four Lions and In The Loop.

To see the full list of categories and cast your vote, visit: www.empireonline.com/awards2013. Open voting continues throughout the ‘awards season’ until Wednesday February 27. The shortlist will be announced on Friday March 1, with the final nominees shortlist open to a second round of public voting.