'Atonement' receives six Empire nominations

Atonement and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix have both received six nominations for the Sony Ericsson Empire Awards 2008.

Atonement's James McAvoy and Keira Knightley have been nominated in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories respectively, while the movie's director Joe Wright has picked up a nomination for Best Director. 13-year-old Saoirse Ronan, who played Briony Tallis in the film, has been nominated for the Best Newcomer award, while the movie itself has been nominated in the Best British Film and The Sony Ericsson Soundtrack Award categories.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has been nominated for Best Film, Best Actor (Daniel Radcliffe), Best Actress (Emma Watson), Best Director (David Yates), Best Sci-fi/ Fantasy, and The Sony Ericsson Soundtrack Award.

Matt Damon (The Bourne Ultimatum), Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz) and Gerard Butler (300) will compete against Radcliffe and McAvoy in the Best Actor category.

Meanwhile, Knightley and Watson will face competition from Katharine Heigl (Knocked Up), Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart) and Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth) in the battle for the Best Actress award.

The winners will be chosen by readers of Empire magazine and its website. The results will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday 9 March at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

The nominations in full:

Best Newcomer
Shia LaBeouf (Transformers)
Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Sam Reily (Control)
Gemma Arterton (St. Trinians)
Thomas Turgoose (This Is England)

Best Comedy
Superbad
Hot Fuzz
Knocked Up
Ratatouille
Run Fat Boy Run

Best Sci-fi/Fantasy
Sunshine
Stardust
Transformers
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
300

Best Horror
30 Days Of Night
28 Weeks Later
Saw IV
Death Proof
1408

Best Thriller
Zodiac
American Gangster
Eastern Promises
The Bourne Ultimatum
Disturbia

Sony Ericsson Best Soundtrack
Control
Atonement
Once
Hairspray
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Best British Film
Atonement
Hot Fuzz
Sunshine
Control
This Is England

Best Actress
Keira Knightley (Atonement)
Emma Watson (Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix)
Katharine Heigl (Knocked Up)
Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart)
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth)

Best Actor
Matt Damon (The Bourne Ultimatum)
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix)
James McAvoy (Atonement)
Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz)
Gerard Butler (300)

Best Director
Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum)
Joe Wright (Atonement)
David Yates (Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix)
Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz)
David Fincher (Zodiac)

Best Film
The Bourne Ultimatum
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
Ratatouille
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Zodiac