BURBANK, California (AP) –- “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” took the top prize at the 25th annual MTV Movie Awards.
The audience at Warner Bros. Studios waved what looked like red and blue light sabers as star Daisy Ridley and director J.J. Abrams accepted the final golden popcorn trophy at Saturday night's ceremony.
The prize capped off the irreverent awards show, which presents fan-voted film awards and touts upcoming releases.
Writer-director J.J. Abrams and actress Daisy Ridley accept the Movie of the Year award for “Star Wars: The Force Awaken” onstage during the 2016 MTV Movie Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on Saturday in Burbank, California. (AFP-Yonhap)
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart hosted the show, opening it “Mad Max” style by riding through Warner Bros. Studios strapped to the front of a tricked-out truck. Later, they performed a rap song about the year’s films that repeated the refrain “Leo got (expletive) by a bear” in reference to “The Revenant.”
Will Smith and Melissa McCarthy each received special honors, and their heartfelt speeches were respites of sincerity in an expletive-laden show that featured more F-bombs than awards.
Smith told the audience that he is “dedicated to being a light in this world” when he accepted the show’s highest honor, the Generation Award.
“I want to help people,” Smith said after being introduced by Queen Latifah and Halle Berry. “I want to be a light. I want to display love. I want to play roles that have dignity. I want to help in this world.”
McCarthy, who crowd-surfed her way to the stage to claim the Comedic Genius Award, said that while she is the first woman to receive the recognition, “I am certainly, certainly not the first one to deserve it.”
She thanked everyone who buys tickets to her movies or watches her shows. “You are absolutely the single reason I get to keep doing what I love doing so much,” she said.
Charlize Theron won the first award of the night: best female performance for “Mad Max: Fury Road.” She thanked the film’s director, her son, Jackson, and daughter, August.
“The story of ‘Fury Road’ is in part a story of the power of women and the power to create our own destinies,” Theron said as she accepted the award in her daughter’s name.