BEST PICTURE FILMS ENJOY MODEST LIFT NOMINEES GET WIDER RELEASE.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Multiple Academy Award nominations have not turned this year's crop of Best Picture contenders into major box office hits despite receiving their widest releases to date, according to final box office numbers released Monday.

But four of the nominees - ``Brokeback Mountain,'' ``Capote,'' ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' and ``Munich'' - did manage to finish in the top 20. The fifth nominee, ``Crash,'' is already on DVD and is no longer in theaters.

``Brokeback'' fared best, finishing in fourth place over the weekend with ticket sales of $6 million. It climbed two spots in the standings from the week before for its highest ranking to date but its weekend gross was down by 8 percent. Distributor Focus Features added 435 locations for 2,089 theaters overall. ``Brokeback'' has now grossed $60 million to date and is the highest-grossing film of the five Best Picture nominees.

``From big cities to small towns and everywhere in between, audiences have supported and embraced this great American love story,'' Jack Foley, Focus' president of theatrical distribution, said Monday. ``It is by popular demand that we have reached this widest point of national release, after opening nine weeks ago in only five theaters.''

``Capote,'' released by Sony Pictures Classics, jumped 10 spots to 14th place with ticket sales of $2.1 million and a gross-to-date of $17.8 million. This represented the biggest weekend yet for the little-seen ``Capote,'' which expanded to more than 1,200 theaters, 914 more than the weekend before nominations were announced.

Universal Picture's ``Munich,'' directed by Steven Spielberg, finished in 16th place, two spots higher than the previous weekend with a gross of $1.7 million, a mere 3 percent bump with the addition of 171 more theaters. ``Munich'' has grossed $42.9 million so far.

``Good Night,'' released by Warner Independent Pictures, finished at number 18 with ticket sales of $1.5 million, enjoying a whopping 739 percent jump with the addition of 824 theaters (929 total). The film, directed by George Clooney, has grossed $26.75 million overall and was in 37th place a week earlier.

``The Oscar bump is alive and well,'' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``No question that these movies are going to take full advantage of their nominations.''

Oscar nominations for Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon appeared to have given the Johnny Cash biopic ``Walk the Line'' a new lease on life in its 12th week in theaters. Fox added 376 theaters to its run for 1,577 theaters total and saw ``Line'' return to the top 10. ``Line,'' distributed by 20th Century Fox, added $3.3 million to its already impressive total, which now stands at $110.6 million.

``It actually looks like it did get a Best Picture nomination,'' said Bruce Snyder, Fox's president of distribution. ``The five nominations were enough to push it back into the public's mind.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com