IMDb Announces The Top Stars of 2012; 2011's Emerging Stars Became 2012's Chart Toppers

IMDb Announces The Top Stars of 2012; 2011's Emerging Stars Became 2012's Chart Toppers

Tom Hardy (IMDb's #2 Emerging Star of 2011) Earns #1 Spot Dethroning 2011's Leading Lady Natalie Portman, Who Tumbles to #37; Jennifer Lawrence (IMDb's #1 Emerging Star of 2011) Earns the #2 Overall Rank, Making Her The Most Viewed Actress of the Year

More Than 15 Celebrities Including Director Adrian Lyne and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready Share Their Personal Top 10 Lists

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IMDb (www.imdb.com), the #1 movie website in the world, today unveiled the top 10 stars of 2012, the top 10 emerging stars of 2012, and other year-end results. Rather than base its annual rankings on the reviews of critics or box office performance, these definitive top 10 lists are determined by the actual page views of the more than 160 million monthly unique users of IMDb. For the first time, celebrated actors, writers, directors, producers and other industry influencers also shared their personal top 10 lists in IMDb's year-in-review special section. To view all of IMDb's year-end lists and make your own, go to: www.imdb.com/bestof2012.

Jennifer Lawrence ("The Hunger Games," "Silver Linings Playbook") was the most viewed actress of 2012 on IMDb, the #1 movie website in the world. (Photo: Business Wire)

And the winners are:

"This year, the men of The Dark Knight Rises, IMDb's #1 movie of 2012 as determined by user ratings, claimed 3 of the top 5 spots (Tom Hardy at #1, Joseph Gordon-Levitt at #4 and Christian Bale at #5). The Batman trio knocked Johnny Depp, who has earned our #1 spot for most of the last decade, to his lowest ranking ever (#7), and pushed the Black Swan actresses, who dominated at #1 (Natalie Portman) and #2 (Mila Kunis) last year, out of our top 10," said Keith Simanton, IMDb's managing editor.

"Also on the rise, however, were The Hunger Games stars, lead by Jennifer Lawrence," said Keith Simanton. "Last year she was IMDb's #1 emerging star of the year. This year she earned the #2 overall position on our chart, making her the most viewed actress of 2012. Her co-star Josh Hutcherson landed at #9, all the way up from #79 in 2011, while Liam Hemsworth became 2012's top emerging star."

"IMDb's 2011 emerging stars chart also proved to be predictive of 2012 success in the case of Tom Hardy," said Keith Simanton. "This year's most viewed star, Tom Hardy, ranked #2 on IMDb's emerging stars of 2011 chart. His unrivaled performance this year reflects intense fan desire to see and learn more about the man behind Bane's mask."

"Former Twi-title holders Robert Pattinson (#1 in 2009) and Kristen Stewart (#2 in 2009 and 2010) landed at #33 and #10, respectively," said Keith Simanton. "The biggest drop from the highest spot was last year's #1 celebrity, Natalie Portman, who tumbled to #37 this year. This may be attributed to the fact that she's been out of the spotlight this year as she took a break to have a child with Benjamin Millipied, whom she married this last August."

Movers And Shakers:

• In additional to Natalie Portman and her Black Swan co-star Mila Kunis, George Clooney, Ryan Gosling and Olivia Wilde all fell out of IMDb's top 10 this year. Their 2012 rankings are as follows: Natalie Portman (#37), Mila Kunis (#20), George Clooney (#14), Ryan Gosling (#11) and Olivia Wilde (#47).

• The following stars entered IMDb's top 10 for the first time ever this year: Tom Hardy at #1 (#14 in 2011); Joseph Gordon-Levitt at #4 (#17 in 2011); Channing Tatum at #6 (#85 in 2011); and Josh Hutcherson at #10 (#72 in 2011).

• People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, Channing Tatum, leapt up 79 spots from #85 to #6, becoming the fastest climber of the year.

• While The Avengers may have been the box office champ this year, 3 of the top 5 stars of the year (Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Christian Bale) all hail from The Dark Knight Rises, the #1 film of the year as determined by IMDb user ratings. The Avengers still finished strong on IMDb's top movies chart, coming in at #2.

Celebrity Top 10 Lists:

This year, for the first time, renowned actors, directors, writers and industry influencers have compiled their personal top 10 lists for IMDb's year-in-review special section. Participants include: Director Adrian Lyne (Jacob's Ladder, Fatal Attraction; Nine ½ Weeks; Flashdance; Unfaithful); actor Thomas Jane (Hung); writer/director Dustin Lance Black (Milk); producer Dana Brunetti (The Social Network, House of Cards); journalists Anne Thompson (INDIEWire) Sharon Waxman (The Wrap) and Anthony Breznican (Entertainment Weekly); writer/director Lynn Shelton (Your Sister's Sister), musician Mike McCready (Pearl Jam); actress Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding); director/producer Lucy Walker (Waste Land); director Penelope Spheeris (Wayne's World); Dashielle Driscoll (Funny or Die); writer/director Rebecca Thomas (Electrick Children); Helen Cowley (editor of LOVEFiLM); Col Needham (IMDb's founder and CEO); and Keith Simanton (IMDb's managing editor).

Additional IMDb year-end lists available at www.imdb.com/bestof2012 include the top 10 films and TV shows of the year as determined by user ratings and the top reasons we loved watching TV in 2012 as selected by Melanie McFarland, IMDb's TV editor.

Broadcast Opportunities:

To access b-roll footage of the talent referenced in this press release and broadcast sound bites in which Keith Simanton, IMDb's managing editor, comments on IMDb's end of year results go to: http://www.yousendit.com/download/WUJiZm1kRkVRWUtVQU1UQw

To request an interview (print or broadcast) with Keith Simanton, please email: press@imdb.com.

About IMDb

IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. The IMDb consumer site (www.imdb.com) is the #1 movie website in the world with a combined web and mobile audience of more than 160 million unique monthly visitors. IMDb offers a searchable database of more than 100 million data items including more than 2 million movies, TV and entertainment programs and more than 4 million cast and crew members. Consumers rely on the information IMDb provides -- including showtimes, trailers, critic and user reviews, personalized recommendations, photo galleries, entertainment news, quotes, trivia, box-office data, editorial feature sections and a universal Watchlist -- when making viewing decisions. IMDb's portfolio of leading entertainment apps includes its popular "Movies & TV" app for iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Android phones, Android tablets, Windows Phone and its mobile-optimized website. To date, there have been more than 40 million downloads of IMDb's mobile apps worldwide. To learn more, go to: (http://imdb.com/apps/). IMDb Pro (http://www.imdbpro.com) is a subscription version of IMDb designed exclusively for professionals who work in the entertainment industry. IMDb Pro provides contact information, in production listings for film and television projects and exclusive STARmeter rankings that are determined by user searches on IMDb. Additionally, IMDb owns and operates Withoutabox (http://www.withoutabox.com), a marketplace for film festivals and filmmakers, and Box Office Mojo (http://www.boxofficemojo.com), the leading online box-office reporting service. IMDb.com is operated by IMDb.com, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NAS: AMZN) (http://www.amazon.com). To learn more, go to: http://www.imdb.com/press.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20121218005296/en/

IMDb
Emily Glassman, 206-266-8077
press@imdb.com

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