Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in "The Hunger Games".

Credit: Lionsgate

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Nominations for the 2012 MTV Movie Awards have been announced, with "The Hunger Games" and "Bridesmaids" tied for the most nominations with eight apiece.

Somewhat surprisingly, fan favorite "Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" didn't receive as many nods as in previous years, with only two nominations, in the Movie of the Year and Best Kiss categories (the latter for one of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson's steamy on-screen liplocks). However, neither of the actors managed to score a nod in the Best Female/Best Male Performance categories, a first for both.

Of course, "The Hunger Games"' big showing at the nominations this year (stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth all received nods) can be accounted for by its "next-'Twilight'" pop culture status currently, with the film recently crossing the $600 million mark in worldwide box-office.

As a point of comparison, in 2011 B.H.G. ("Before Hunger Games") "Twilight: Eclipse" received five nods and won three awards including Best Movie - a category taken by the first three films in the sparkly-vamp franchise. This year, of course, "Breaking Dawn" will have an incredibly tough competitor in "The Hunger Games", which begs the question: will the "Twilight" franchise's streak in the top category be broken by Jennifer Lawrence and company this year?

In case you were wondering, there are indeed three other films in the running for Movie of the Year, namely "Bridesmaids", "The Help" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2". But let's face it: none of them stand a chance against the aforementioned 'tween favorites (unless, that is, "Harry Potter" manages to score an upset due to its being the final film in the boy wizard franchise).

Other top nominees this year include "21 Jump Street" (6 nods), "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" (6 nods), "The Help" (4 nods), Ryan Gosling-starrer "Drive" (3 nods), "Horrible Bosses" (3 nods) and "Project X" (3 nods), the shaky-cam teen party flick that became a surprise hit when it was released this past March.

In addition to the shakeup among the nominees themselves, this will also be the first year for several new categories at the Movie Awards, including Best Cast, Best On-Screen Transformation, Best Gut-Wrenching Performance, Best On-Screen Dirtbag and Best Music. In that last category, artists including LMFAO ("Party Rock Anthem", featured in "21 Jump Street"), Kid Cudi (the Steve Aoki remix of "Pursuit of Happiness", "Project X") and Chemical Brothers ("The Devil is in theDetails", "Hanna") received a tip of the hat.

As for artists slated to perform at the ceremony, chart-topping pop band fun. are slated to hit the stage this year, with other acts to be announced at a later date.

2012 MTV Movie Awards nominees:

Movie of the Year
» "Bridesmaids"
» "The Hunger Games"
» "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
» "The Help"
» "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1"

Best Male Performance
» Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
» Ryan Gosling, "Drive"
» Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "50/50"
» Josh Hutcherson, "The Hunger Games"
» Channing Tatum, "The Vow"

Best Female Performance
» Jennifer Lawrence, "The Hunger Games"
» Kristin Wiig, "Bridesmaids"
» Emma Stone, "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
» Emma Watson, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
» Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

Best Comedic Performance
» Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
» Kristen Wiig, "Bridesmaids"
» Zach Galifianakis, "The Hangover Part II"
» Jonah Hill, "21 Jump Street"
» Oliver Cooper, "Project X"

Breakthrough Performance
» Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
» Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
» Liam Hemsworth, "The Hunger Games"
» Elle Fanning, "Super 8"
» Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Best Cast
» "Bridesmaids"
» "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
» "The Hunger Games"
» "21 Jump Street"
» "The Help"

Best On-Screen Transformation
» Elizabeth Banks, "The Hunger Games"
» Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
» Johnny Depp, "21 Jump Street"
» Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"
» Colin Farrell, "Horrible Bosses"

Best Fight
» Daniel Radcliffe vs. Ralph Fiennes, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
» Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig, "The Hunger Games"
» Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill vs. Kid Gang, "21 Jump Street"
» Tom Hardy vs. Joel Edgerton, "Warrior"
» Tom Cruise vs. Michelle Nyqvist, "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

Best Kiss
» Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
» Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
» Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, "The Hunger Games"
» Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, "The Vow"
» Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1"

Best Gut-Wrenching Performance
» "Bridesmaids" (Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McClendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper)
» "The Help" (Bryce Dallas Howard)
» "21 Jump Street" (Jonah Hill and Rob Riggle)
» "Drive" (Ryan Gosling)
» "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (Tom Cruise)

Best On-Screen Dirt Bag
» Bryce Dallas Howard, "The Help"
» Jon Hamm, "Bridesmaids"
» Jennifer Aniston, "Horrible Bosses"
» Colin Farrell, "Horrible Bosses"
» Oliver Cooper, "Project X"

Best Music
» "Party Rock Anthem," LMFAO ("21 Jump Street")
» "A Real Hero," College with Electric Youth ("Drive")
» "The Devil Is in the Details," Chemical Brothers ("Hanna")
» "Impossible," Figurine ("Like Crazy")
» "Pursuit of Happiness," Kid Cudi (Steve Aoki remix) ("Project X")

Chris Eggertsen
Producer

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A former contributor to sites including Bloody-Disgusting and AfterElton, Eggertsen enjoys rock music, rainy days and smelling the pages of old books. You should read all of his articles and follow him on Twitter because it's the right thing to do.