Empire readers and the cinema-going public have nominated 50 films, seven TV shows and five games for this year’s Jameson Empire Awards, honouring a diverse spectrum of entertainment from the past year. The public will continue to cast their votes at www.empireonline.com/awards2016 with the winners to be announced at a star-studded ceremony on March 20th  hosted by David Walliams

George Miller’s high-octane Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens lead the pack, followed by The Martian with six nominations and BAFTA favourite The Revenant, with nods in five categories. All four films are nominated for the prestigious Best Director (presented by Vue Entertainment) and Best Film (presented by Sky Movies) categories where they are joined by The Hateful Eight for Best Film and Ryan Coogler for Best Director for Creed.

Overlooked by other awards bodies, Creed also secures a nomination for Michael B. Jordan in the Jameson Best Actor category alongside Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant),Matt Damon (The Martian), Michael Fassbender (Macbeth/Steve Jobs) and Tom Hardy (Legend/Mad Max: Fury Road). Hardy’s Mad Max co-star Charlize Theron is nominated in the Best Actress category alongside Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2), Emily Blunt (Sicario) and BAFTA-winner Brie Larson (Room).

Rising stars of the acting world are recognised in the Best Newcomer categories, including Larson’s nine year-old Room co-star Jacob Tremblay who is nominated alongside

15 year-old Ghanaian actor Abraham Attah, who made his film acting debut in Beasts Of No Nation. Rounding off the Best Male Newcomer category are: Thomas Mann (Me And Earl And The Dying Girl); Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) and BAFTA EE Rising Star winner John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Fox Searchlight’s Sundance award-winning Me And Earl And The Dying Girl also features in the Best Female Newcomer category, with a nod for actress Olivia Cooke, who is nominated with fellow Brits Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Bel Powley (The Diary Of A Teenage Girl), alongside Maika Monroe (It Follows) and Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation).

British filmmaking talent is once more recognised in the coveted Best British Film category, which is presented this year by The Hollywood Reporter. Historical drama Suffragette rallies for votes alongside 45 Years, Legend, Macbeth and Spectre.

Mad Max: Fury Road also dominates the newly introduced craft categories with nominations for Best Costume Design, Best Make-Up and Hairstyling, Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design and Best Soundtrack. The introduction of 11 new categories in 2016 has attracted a wider range of nominations and recognition for films such as Crimson Peak(Best Costume Design, Best Make-Up and Hairstyling, Best Production Design), Cinderella (Best Costume Design) and Jurassic World (Best Visual Effects).

The specialised genre categories continue to champion a broad range of cinema not otherwise included in most awards nominations, such as Krampus, Insidious: Chapter 3 andThe Hallow, which are all nominated for Best Horror, and Ant-Man, Spy, Inside Out and Trainwreck amongst the nominations for Best Comedy (presented by Absolute Radio). Amy Schumer’s hilarious script is also recognised in the new Best Screenplay category, where Trainwreck takes on Steve Jobs and The Hateful Eight as well as recent BAFTA-winners Spotlight and The Big Short.

Animation scores a dedicated category this year with nods for Inside Out, Minions, Shaun The Sheep The Movie, Song Of The Sea and The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya,while Pixar is also recognised in the Best Short Film category (presented by Jameson Irish Whiskey) with nominations for Lava and the Oscar®-nominated Sanjay’s Super Team which are nominated alongside fellow Oscar®-nominee Stutterer as well as World of Tomorrow and Kung Fury. Elsewhere, the new Best Documentary category recognises both film and TV formats with nominations including: Amy; He Named Me Malala; Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief; The Jinx: The Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst and much-debated Netflix series, Making A Murderer.

The unparalleled popularity of television drama is recognised with the introduction of the Best TV Series category, which will see Game Of Thrones and  Marvel’s Jessica Jones take on Fargo, This Is England ’90 and Marvel’s Daredevil. Another comic superhero features in the Best Game nominations, with Batman: Arkham Knight up against record-selling Fallout 4 in addition to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Bloodborne.

Commenting on this year’s shortlist, Empire’s Editor-In-Chief, Terri White, concludes:

“2015 was an absolutely cracking year for film and entertainment, evidenced by the strength of the actors, filmmakers, movies and TV shows fighting it out for gongs this year. With Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens going head to head with awards favourite so far The Revenant, I can’t wait to see who walks away with the Empire trophies on the night. It’d take a braver woman than me to bet against any of them.”

The nominations for the Jameson Empire Awards cover films released within the period January 31, 2015, until January 31, 2016

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