Empire Awards: Nominations Announced

After countless hours spent toiling over the truckloads of voting forms submitted by our readers, the nominations for the 2002 Empire Awards can finally be announced. While thousands upon thousands of you pushed your favourites for recognition, one name cropped up time and time again, The Lord of The Rings. Peter Jackson's three-hour fantasy garnered a total of eight nominations: Best Film, Best Director and two each for Best Debut, Best Actor and Best British Actor. Peter Jackson is doubtless smiling ear to ear as his epic pulls ahead in the only major film awards voted for by the moviegoing public. Joining the Fellowship on the road to Empire's coveted trophies, are Benecio Del Toro, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Rachel Weisz, all of whom pulled ahead of the pack with performances you most admired. Long-time Empire favourites Ewan McGregor and Kate Winslet also made a welcome reappearance and may take the plinth for the fourth time in the British Actor/Actress stakes. The awards themselves will take place at London's Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday February 5. Hosted by Phill Jupitus, you can expect a host of glittering stars to attend and Empire Online will be working through the night to bring you all the news as it comes in. The nominations in full: Best Debut Radcliffe/Grint/Watson - Harry Potter Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan - The Lord of The Rings Orlando Bloom - The Lord of The Rings Sharon Maguire - Bridget Jones's Diary Keira Knightley - The Hole Best British Actress Olivia Williams - Lucky Break Helena Bonham-Carter - Planet of The Apes Kate Winslet - Enigma Rachel Weisz - The Mummy Returns Catherine Zeta Jones - Traffic Best British Actor Hugh Grant - Bridget Jones's Diary Sean Bean - The Lord of The Rings Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge Tim Roth - Planet of The Apes Sir Ian McKellen - The Lord of The Rings Best British Film Mike Basset: England Manager Bridget Jones's Diary The Parole Officer Enigma Lucky Break Independent Spirit Award Jean Pierre Jeunet - Amelie Gael Bernitz - Amorres Perros Terry Swigoff - Ghost World Alejandro Amenabar - The Others Best Actress Renee Zellweger - Bridge Jones's Diary Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge Frances O'Connor - A.I. Artificial Intelligence Audrey Tautou - Amelie Nicole Kidman - The Others Best Actor Elijah Wood - The Lord of The Rings Viggo Mortensen - The Lord of The Rings Billy Bob Thornton - The Man Who Wasn't There Benicio Del Toro - Traffic Haley Joel Osment - A.I. Artificial Intelligence Best Director Peter Jackson - The Lord of The Rings Baz Luhrmann - Moulin Rouge Steven Spielberg - A.I. Artificial Intelligence Steven Soderbergh - Traffic Cameron Crowe - Almost Famous Best Film The Others The Lord of The Rings A.I. Artificial Intelligence Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone Moulin Rouge