King Kong was a box-office hit in the UK

The film will be up for five prizes - including best film - at the ceremony, to be held at the Hilton London Metropole on 13 March.

Pride & Prejudice, Crash, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, have four nominations each.

Comedian Bill Bailey will host the ceremony, which are the only movie awards voted for by the British public.

Our show is designed to recognise movies of all genres, echoing the way ordinary filmgoers talk about movies Colin Kennedy, Empire editor

King Kong is up against Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, War Of The Worlds, Crash, and Sin City for the best film honours.

Both King Kong and Revenge Of The Sith are up against Serenity, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire for the newly introduced best sci-fi/fantasy award.

Jackson is joined in the best director category by Steven Spielberg (War Of The Worlds), Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins), Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice), Ron Howard (Cinderella Man) and Nick Park and Steve Box (The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit).

The film is Wallace and Gromit's first feature-length movie

King Kong stars Naomi Watts and Andy Serkis receive nods in the best actress and best actor categories, as do Crash stars Thandie Newton and Matt Dillon.

Nominated alongside Newton and Watts are Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice), Renee Zellweger (Cinderella Man) and Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby).

Christian Bale (Batman Begins), Viggo Mortensen (A History Of Violence) and Johnny Depp (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory), are up against Dillon and Serkis.

The best British film category features The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, The Descent, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Pride & Prejudice, Stoned, and Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire.

Thandie Newton and Matt Dillon are up for individual awards

Empire magazine's editor-in-chief, Colin Kennedy, said the awards were a reflection of what cinema audiences enjoy.

"It is no longer enough to merely say that the nominations for the awards reflect the opinions of Empire magazine's readers rather than those of any industry body," he said.

"In fact, this outstanding and diverse line-up is the only shortlist to celebrate the best movies of 2005, films that were not only widely seen by the ordinary public but cherished and remembered some months later.

"While the Oscars and the Baftas rightfully celebrate the narrow set of prestige movies released during 'awards season', our show is designed to recognise movies of all genres, echoing the way ordinary filmgoers talk about movies."