Entertainment Today: Showbiz news

2002 MTV MOVIE AWARDS

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" leads the nominees, with six nods, for the 2002 MTV Movie Awards, announced Tuesday in New York.

It was also announced that the 11th annual awards show will return to the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where the awards will be presented June 1 in a star-studded ceremony that'll air June 6 on MTV.

"As usual, the MTV Movie Awards is not your typical awards show. This year's 'Best Movie' category features blonde ambition, super fast cars, a green ogre, hobbits, and military drama," said MTV/MTV2 President Van Toffler. "Critically acclaimed or not, these are the movies that our audience went out to see and the MTV Movie Awards celebrates the very essence of why these movies are made -- to entertain and offer a fantastic escape for our audience."

The nominees:

BEST MOVIE -- Black Hawk Down (Sony Pictures), The Fast and the Furious (Universal), Legally Blonde (MGM), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema), Shrek (DreamWorks SKG)

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE -- Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind (Universal); Vin Diesel, The Fast and the Furious (Universal); Josh Hartnett, Pearl Harbor (Touchstone / Disney); Will Smith, Ali (Sony); Elijah Wood, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema)

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE -- Kate Beckinsale, Pearl Harbor (Touchstone / Disney); Halle Berry, Monster's Ball (Lion's Gate Films); Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Paramount); Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! (20th Century Fox); Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde (MGM)

BEST ON-SCREEN TEAM -- The Fast and the Furious (Universal): Vin Diesel and Paul Walker; Ocean's Eleven (Warner Bros.): Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison, Bernie Mac, Brad Pitt, Shaobo Qin and Carl Reiner; Rush Hour 2 (New Line Cinema): Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker; Shrek (DreamWorks SKG): Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers; Zoolander (Paramount): Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE -- Eddie Murphy, Shrek (DreamWorks SKG); Mike Myers, Shrek (DreamWorks SKG); Seann William Scott, American Pie 2 (Universal); Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 2 (New Line Cinema); Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde (MGM)

BEST VILLAIN -- Aaliyah, The Queen of the Damned (Warner Bros.); Christopher Lee, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema); Tim Roth, Planet of the Apes (20th Century Fox); Denzel Washington, Training Day (Warner Bros.); Zhang Ziyi, Rush Hour 2 (New Line Cinema)

BREAKTHROUGH MALE -- Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema); DMX, Exit Wounds (Warner Bros.); Colin Hanks, Orange County (Paramount); Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Warner Bros.); Paul Walker, The Fast and the Furious (Universal)

BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE -- Penelope Cruz, Blow (New Line Cinema); Anne Hathaway, The Princess Diaries (Walt Disney Pictures); Mandy Moore, A Walk to Remember (Warner Bros.); Shannyn Sossamon, A Knight's Tale (Sony Pictures); Britney Spears, Crossroads (Paramount)

BEST KISS -- A Knight's Tale (Sony Pictures): Heath Ledger and Shannyn Sossamon; American Pie 2 (Universal): Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott; Bridget Jones's Diary (Miramax): Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth; Moulin Rouge! (20th Century Fox): Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor; Not Another Teen Movie (Sony Pictures): Mia Kirshner and Beverly Polcyn

BEST ACTION SEQUENCE -- Black Hawk Down (Sony Pictures): First Helicopter Crash; The Fast and the Furious (Universal): The Final Race; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring (New Line Cinema): The Cave Tomb Battle; Pearl Harbor (Touchstone/Disney): The Attack Scene

BEST FIGHT -- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Paramount): Angelina Jolie versus the robot; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema): Christopher Lee versus Ian McKellen; The One (Sony Pictures): Jet Li versus himself; Rush Hour 2 (New Line Cinema): Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan versus The Hong Kong Gang

BEST MUSICAL SEQUENCE -- A Knight's Tale (Sony), Heath Ledger and Shannyn Sossamon; Moulin Rouge! (20th Century Fox), Nicole Kidman; Moulin Rouge! (20th Century Fox), Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman; Rush Hour 2 (New Line Cinema), Chris Tucker

The nominees were chosen through a national poll of MTV and MTV2 viewers. The winners will be determined by MTV and MTV2 viewers, who can cast their votes from April 23 through May 18 via telephone at 900-288-4688 (75 cents per call, must be 18 years or older to call); and via online from April 23 through May 18 by visiting MTV.com.

COLIN FIRTH

Colin Firth -- who starred with Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant in "Bridget Jones's Diary" -- is actually a character in novelist Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones sequel, "The Edge of Reason," prompting the question: Who will play Firth in the movie version?

First things first, though. Firth isn't sure there will be an "Edge of Reason" movie.

"I can't really answer that question informatively," he told UPI. "I don't know. As far as I'm concerned it's all rumor."

Firth said there had been talk of a movie, but it has quieted down. "I just think it's probably a very difficult thing to mount," he said, "three actors who have to be available at the same time and a script that would have to be good enough."

But if there were a movie, who would play the character of Colin Firth?

"He won't be there," said Firth. "He'll become George Clooney or something."

Bridget becomes a journalist in "The Edge of Reason" and interviews Firth. Director Sharon Maguire -- who had been talked about as a possible director for the project -- reportedly said Firth would play himself, as well as reprise his role as Mark Darcy from "Bridget Jones's Diary."

(Thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason)