Bridesmaids, the Hunger Games lead MTV nominations

Comedy Bridesmaids and cult teen film The Hunger Games are leading this year’s MTV movie awards nominations, with eight nods each.

Both are up for prizes including best cast, breakthrough performance and movie of the year.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, The Help and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is also nominated for movie of the year.

The winners will be decided by public vote. The awards ceremony is on 3 June.

There are 12 categories this year, of which six are new including best on-screen dirt bag and best gut-wrenching performance.

Nominees were previously selected by the public but this year they were chosen by a panel of actors, producers, agents and industry insiders.

Bridesmaids’ stars Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy have two nominations each. Both are up for best comedic performance, while McCarthy is also nominated for breakthrough performance and Wiig is up for best female.

McCarthy was also nominated in the best supporting actress category at this year’s Oscars.

The Hunger Games has been a global box office hit – worldwide takings have topped £335m and it spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the US and Canadian film chart.

It took $155m (£97m) at the US box office in its opening weekend.

The MTV Movie Awards ceremony takes place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Los Angeles, and will be broadcast live on MTV.