Potter and Bond scoop National Movie Awards

by Naman Ramachandran

01/10/2007 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [trailer] won three of the top prizes at ITV’s first National Movie Awards held at London’s prestigious Royal Festival Hall. Daniel Radcliffe who plays the eponymous wizard in the film picked up the award for best male performance beating off challenges from Daniel Craig, Johnny Depp and co-star Rupert Grint.

Potter’s Emma Watson won best female performance over the likes of Keira Knightley, Judi Dench and Eva Green. The wins came as a surprise to both Radcliffe and Watson. Watson said, “I didn’t dare to dream. I’m absolutely amazed and thrilled.” The film also won the best family film award.

Casino Royale [trailer] walked away with the best action and adventure movie award, over candidates like Die Hard 4.0 and Transformers. The film also won the special recognition award. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson accepted the award.

The best comedy award went to Hot Fuzz [trailer], over challengers Borat, Mr Bean’s Holiday [trailer] and Night at the Museum. Star Simon Pegg said, “It’s a complete joy. We were nervous and you always kind of hope, you pretend you don’t care, but you do really. You get called out and it’s wonderful, a real treat and I hope this goes on and on and we win more and more in the future.”

The British public chose the winners using the internet, phone and forms filled out in UK cinemas. Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Jamie Foxx, Christian Slater, Mischa Barton and Dustin Hoffman attended the star-studded event amongst many other celebrities.