Spider-Man was the most popular US film in 2002

The blockbusters have five nominations each, including best film and best actor.

Eminem film 8 Mile, comedy drama Barbershop and horror movie The Ring are also up for best movie.

The 12th MTV Movie Awards will take place on 31 May at the Shrine Auditorium in LA.

Tobey Maguire, who plays comic book hero Spider-Man, and Kirsten Dunst, his on-screen love interest, are nominated for best male and best female respectively.

The pair are also up for the best kiss award.

Willem Defoe is recognised in the best villain category for his role as the evil Green Goblin.

The Two Towers pits Viggo Mortensen against Maguire for best male performance.

The Two Towers won two Academy Awards

Mortensen was a last-minute addition to the Lord of the Rings cast, taking the role of Aragon when Stuart Townsend left the set after only four days of work.

The second instalment of Tolkein's classic is also nominated for best on-screen team and best action sequence.

A new category for 2003 is best virtual performance, which sees Gollum from The Two Towers competing against Dobby from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Yoda from Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, and Kangeroo Jack and Scooby Doo from the films of the same name.

The Two Towers won two Oscars this year for sound editing and visual effects.

Spider-Man was nominated in the same categories.

The summer blockbuster was the top grossing film at the US box office last year, taking $400m (�254m), closely followed by The Two Towers, which took $330m (�210m).