'The Artist' wins seven awards at BAFTAs including best picture, director

"The Artist" picked up seven awards including best picture at the 64th BAFTA Awards, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards, held today in the Royal Opera House in Covent Harden.

"The Artist" won 7 awards Sunday.

The silent film, which had earned 12 nominations, also took home the prize for best leading actor for Jean Dujardin and best director for Michel Hazanavicius, as well as original screenplay, cinematography, original music and costume design.

Meanwhile, the spy thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" was named outstanding British film for the year and was also awarded for best original screenplay.

Meryl Streep won best leading actress for her role as former prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The supporting categories went to the presumed frontrunners in Christopher Plummer ("The Beginners") and Octavia Spencer ("The Help").

In the animated category, Gore Verbinski's "Rango" beat out "The Adventures of Tintin" for the prize.

Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" was awarded for production design and sound. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," took home the prize for special effects.

The award show will air in the U.S. on BBC America tonight (Sunday) at 8 p.m. and again at 11:40.

A full list of the winners and nominees can be seen below:

'The Devil Inside' possesses weekend box office

The new year got off to a surprisingly fast start thanks to an over-performing horror film that's getting decided mixed reviews from audiences.

The surprise winner earned $34.5 million.

The low budget, found-footage horror film "The Devil Inside" dominated the weekend box office, grossing an estimated $34.5 million, good for the third highest grossing January weekend ever behind 2008's "Cloverfield" and the 1997 re-release of "Star Wars."

Paramount picked up the film for only $1 million and managed to make its money back on the Thursday midnight showings alone. The downside was the incredibly poor reception from those who did see the movie, leading to a rare "F" CinemaScore.

Following in second place was "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," which picked up $20.5 million in its fourth weekend.

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" also performed dutifully in its fourth weekend, bringing in slightly more than $14 million.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" had the smallest weekend to weekend drop-off of any returning film in the top 10, finishing with $11.3 million. It still has some ground to make up with a total gross over three weeks of $76 million compared to its $90 million production budget.

Rounding out the top five was "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" with $9.5 million.

Meanwhile, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" expanded into a semi-wide release on some 800 screens, grossing $5.7 million and placing ninth in its fifth week.

The top 10 grossing films were:

1. "The Devil Inside," $34.5 million (New)
2. "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," $20.5 million ($170.2 million) 
3. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," $14 million ($157.4 million) 
4. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," $11.3 million (Total: $76.8 million)
5. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," $9.5 million ($111.5 million) 
6. "War Horse," $8.6 million ($56.8 million)
7. "We Bought a Zoo," $8.4 million (Total: $56.5 million)
8. "The Adventures of Tintin," $6.6 million ($61.8 million) 
9. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," $5.7 million (Total: $10.4 million)
10. "New Year's Eve," $3.2 million ($52 million)