Minority Report tops film awards

Tom Cruise and Samantha Morton won acting awards

Futuristic thriller Minority Report has won three prizes at the Empire Film Awards while Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers took the best film prize.

Minority Report's stars Tom Cruise and Samantha Morton both picked up acting awards, while Steven Spielberg was named best director.

EMPIRE AWARDS MAIN WINNERS

Best film - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (above)

Best British film: 28 Days Later

Best actor: Tom Cruise

Best actress: Kirsten Dunst

Best British actor: Hugh Grant

Best British actress: Samantha Morton

Click here for a full list of winners

It is the second year running that a Lord of the Rings movie has won best film, although it only won one award from its seven nominations.

The awards were voted for by readers of Empire magazine and handed out at a ceremony in London on Wednesday.

There are separate categories for British stars, with Hugh Grant winning the best British actor prize for his role in comedy About A Boy.

Samantha Morton, seen as a rising star, was voted best British actress while her Minority Report co-star Cruise was named best actor.

Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst won the best actress prize - but her award was accepted by comic Johnny Vegas, who also stood in for Nicole Kidman in 2002.

Rosamund Pike, who played a Bond bad girl in Die Another Day, was named best newcomer while apocalyptic fantasy 28 Days Later picked up the prize for best British film.

Hollywood legend Dustin Hoffman was there to receive a lifetime achievement award from Traffic star Benicio del Toro.

Alternative agenda

Hosted by Richard E Grant, the ceremony took place at the Dorchester Hotel and Cate Blanchett, Sir Ian McKellen and James Van Der Beek were also on the guest list.

But there was no sign of stars like Renee Zellweger and Jack Nicholson, who are dominating the rest of the film awards season.

This is partly because many Oscar contender films have not yet been seen in the UK, and also because the awards are voted for by fans and not film professionals.

A new prize, for scene of the year, was awarded for the Yoda duel from Stars Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

And 24 Hour Party People star Steve Coogan handed an independent spirit award to his director, Michael Winterbottom.

Last year, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring won three trophies, including best film, which it shared with Moulin Rouge.

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Best Newcomer - Rosamund Pike, Die Another Day

Best British Actress - Samantha Morton, Minority Report

Best British Actor - Hugh Grant, About A Boy

Sky Movies Best British Film - 28 Days Later

Sony Ericsson Scene of the Year - The Yoda duel from Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Empire Independent Spirit Award - Michael Winterbottom and Andrew Eaton

Best Actress - Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man

Best Actor - Tom Cruise, Minority Report

Best Director - Steven Spielberg, Minority Report

Best Film - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Empire lifetime achievement: Dustin Hoffman