The Empire Awards 2014 – 12 Years! Hobbit! Gravity! Alan Partridge! World’s End! Filth! Hunger Games and more!

The fantastic Empire unload their biggest awards yet with their 25th anniversary special. They, like us, let the worthy blockbusters to go head to head with the awards bait. It’s not as prestigious as the Oscars but does show us for of the fans’ view. So in that respect, this really is quite major.

Best Male Newcomer:

Aidan Turner – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

George MacKay – Sunshine on Leith

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

Best Female Newcomer:

Margot Robbie – The Wolf of Wall Street

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Antonia Thomas – Sunshine On Leith

Elizabeth Debecki – The Great Gatsby

Freya Mavor – Sunshine on Leith

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Best Horror:

The Conjuring

A Field in England

Evil Dead

World War Z

You’re Next

Best Comedy:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

This is 40

This is the End

The World’s End

Best Thriller:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Captain Phillips

Now You See Me

Prisoners

Trance

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Gravity

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Supporting Actor:

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Sam Clafin – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Richard Armitage – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World

Best Supporting Actress:

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Mia Wasikowska – Stoker

Jameson Best Leading Actor:

James McAvoy – Filth

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Best Leading Actress:

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Edgar Wright – The World’s End

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Empire Icon:

Hugh Jackman

Empire Hero:

Simon Pegg

Empire Inspiration:

Paul Greengrass

25 Years Award – The Action Hero of Our Lifetime:

Arnold Schwarzenegger

25 Years Award – The Legend of Our Lifetime:

Tom Cruise

Best British Film:

The World’s End

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Filth

Rush

Sunshine on Leith

Best Film:

Gravity

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Seth Rogen enrols for Console Wars, Marvel unveils Doctor Strange directing shortlist and find the Empire Award nominees

The award ceremony season is in full swing with last week’s BAFTAs, this weekend’s Oscars and last night’s homegrown Tuorhoth Awards. Another alternate look on the last year’s films can be found with the Empire Awards for which the nominations have just been announced. The winners will be announced on March 30th but you can vote for your favourites here.

Best Film:

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Edgar Wright – The World’s End

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Best Leading Actor:

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

James McAvoy – Filth

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Best Leading Actress:

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best British Film:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Filth

Rush

Sunshine on Leith

The World’s End

Best Supporting Actress:

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Mia Wasikowska – Stoker

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Best Supporting Actor:

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Sam Clafin – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Richard Armitage – The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World

Best Sci-fi/Fantasy:

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Thriller:

Captain Phillips

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Now You See Me

Prisoners

Trance

Best Comedy:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

This is 40

This is the End

The World’s End

Best Horror:

A Field in England

The Conjuring

Evil Dead

World War Z

You’re Next

Best Female Newcomer:

Adele Exarchopoulous – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Antonia Thomas – Sunshine on Leith

Elizabeth Debecki – The Great Gatsby

Freya Mavor – Sunshine on Leith

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Margot Robbie – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Male Newcomer:

Aidan Turner – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

George McKay – Sunshine on Leith

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

Picking up a Best Comedy nomination at the Empires was This is the End and the writing/directing duo behind it are lining up a new project. Evan Goldberg (writer of Goon, Pineapple Express and Superbad) and Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, 50/50, Paul) have been hired by Sony for Console Wars. This is a comedy detailing the vicious rivalry between Sega and Nintendo in the ’90s which lead to the multi-billion industry we know today. The pair will write and direct, as they did in This is the End, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Rogen went on to star in the film yet nothing’s been confirmed about that just yet.

Finally, we can announce the directing shortlist for Marvel’s upcoming fantasy project Doctor Stranger. The film was greenlighted by producer Kevin Feige in October and since there’s been huge speculation as to both who would call the shots on the superhero adventure as well as who would portray the titular hero. The potential directors are Mark Andrews, Nicolaj Arcel, Dean Israelite and Jonathan Levine. We’ll give you a quick brief for these four candidates.

Oscar winning director Mark Andrews directed Pixar’s feature length Brave and short animation One Man Band as well as writing Pixar’s short Jack-Jack Attack and John Carter. Israelite, cousin of Jonathan Liebesman is the director of successful short films The Department of Nothing and Magician. The most famous of the quartet is probably Jonathan Levine (50/50, Warm Bodies, The Wackness) but the most promising is Danish born Nikolaj Arcel, director of King’s Game and the brilliant period drama A Royal Affair.

The film will likely be the second in Marvel’s third phase but, if you can’t wait till 2016, there’s plenty of superhero action to keep you company. Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes this March, Guardians of the Galaxy launches in August, The Avengers: Age of Ultron battles in May 2015 followed by Ant-Man in July of that year. After that, there could be Captain America 3, Thor 3, Guardians 2 or Black Panther before Avengers 3.

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation – 2016

Doctor Strange – 2016

2014 Empire Awards – March 30th

Weekend box office – 21st to 28th of December 2013 – will Hobbit 2 desolate Anchorman in battle of the sequels

Anchorman 2’s attempt to reach box office number one status was flawed already, sweeping in just one week after the major release of the month The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. However, it shot itself in the foot with the midweek “Burgundy Wednesday” slot. Last week, our predictions found The Hobbit 2 triumphant but let’s see how it really panned out.

US

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Director: Peter Jackson – $31.5 million
2. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Adam McKay – $26.8 million
3. Frozen -Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – $19.2 million
4. American Hustle – David O’Russell – $19.1 million
5. Saving Mr Banks – John Lee Hancock – $9.3 million

UK

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson – £5.6 million
2. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Adam McKay – £4.6 million
3. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – £3.9 million
4. Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie – Neil Nightingale – £1 million
5. Dhoom 3 – Vijay Krishna Acharya – £0.9 million

The Hobbit is still desolating both sides of the Atlantic leaving the new releases scattered across the box office. Comedy sequel Anchorman 2 still could reach $100 million despite the initial setback. American Hustle has picked up real popularity with its excellent cast and traction from David O’Russell’s huge success with Silver Linings Playbook. In the UK, Walking With Dinosaurs has come pretty close to tanking after some shockingly poor reviews and barely scraped past Bollywood thriller sequel Dhoom 3, congrats to Dhoom’s unexpected success at the box office – the first Bollywood movie to be screened in IMAX. Weak comedy, TV adaptation The Harry Hill Movie entering at 7th place with £0.5 million while online game Moshi Monsters’ attempt at the big screen was a sore disappointment taking just £0.3 million.

3/5 in both the US and the UK takes my running total up to 53/80.

US

1. 47 Ronin – Carl Rinsch
2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson
3. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Adam McKay
4. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – Ben Stiller
5. The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorsese

UK

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson
2. 47 Ronin – Carl Rinsch
3. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – Ben Stiller
4. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Adam McKay
5. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Martin Freeman and John Callen in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, this week’s US and UK box office number one.

Weekend box office – 13th to 20th December 2013 – will The Hobbit’s Smaug melt Frozen or will it have A Madea Christmas

It’s no surprise to find that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at the top at this week’s box office, as I predicted last week. It is a surprise however that one of the worst reviewed films of the year has launched itself into the US box office top 5.

US

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Director: Peter Jackson – $73.7 million
2. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – $22.2 million
3. A Madea Christmas – Tyler Perry – $16.2 million
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence – $13.2 million
5. Thor: The Dark World – Alan Taylor – $2.7 million

UK

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson – £9.3 million
2. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – £4.2 million
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence – £1.3 million
4. Gravity – Alfonso Cauron – £0.6 million
5. Saving Mr. Banks – John Lee Hancock – $0.4 million

Written, directed by and starring Tyler Perry, A Madea Christmas’ presence is just bizarre. Anchorman 2 with its midweek opening didn’t make it into the top 5 but it’ll open strong next week. The Hobbit and Frozen’s entry this week was expected but Gravity’s remarkable amount of legs led to a quite unpredictable week in the box office. 2/5 in the US and 3/5 in the UK leads to a weekly total of 5/10 and a running total of 47/70.

US

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson
2. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Adam McKay
3. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence
5. A Madea Christmas – Tyler Perry

UK

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson
2. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Adam McKay
3. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
4. American Hustle – David O’Russell
5. Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie – Neil Nightingale

Luke Evans and Orlando Bloom in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, this week’s UK and US box office number one.

Weekend box office – 5th to 12th of December 2013 – will Frozen chill Catching Fire or will it get Out of the Furnace

Last week’s predictions really weren’t that far off. Besides a couple of releases being the wrong way around. Out of the Furnace is the only major release of the month and that’s possibly the most grim release of the year, which could put people off besides the fact that Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Willem Defoe. It’s just going to be a quick shuffle of those at the top but it’s not surprising that Frozen managed to overtake Hunger Games baring in mind the time of year and Frozen’s Christmas theme.

US

1. Frozen – Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – $31.6 million
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence – $27 million
3. Out of the Furnace – Scott Cooper – $5.3 million
4. Thor: The Dark World – Alan Taylor – $4.7 million
5. Delivery Man – Ken Scott – $3.8 million

UK

1. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – $4.7 million
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence – $2.7 million
3. Gravity – Alfonso Cauron – $1.1 million
4. Saving Mr. Banks – John Lee Hancock – $0.5 million
5. Homefront – Gary Fleder – $0.4 million

A 3/5 in both the UK and US, I’ve a weekly total of 6/10 and a running total of 42/60 now! Here’s my predictions for next week:

US

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson
2. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
3. Thor: The Dark World – Alan Taylor
4. Out of the Furnace – Scott Cooper
5. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

UK

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson
2. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence
4. Saving Mr. Banks – John Lee Hancock
5. Gravity – Alfonso Cauron

Anchorman 2’s initial opening on Burgundy Wednesday isn’t a great move but it should rocket up next week meanwhile The Hobbit 2 will be dominating the box office and could do for the next couple of weeks. By for now!

Josh Gad’s character in Frozen, this week’s US and UK box office number one.