FILM AWARDS GIVE BOX OFFICE BOOST.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Little-seen but critically acclaimed films like ``In the Bedroom'' and ``Gosford Park'' stand to gain the most at the box office if they fare well at tonight's nationally televised Golden Globe Awards and land some Academy Award nominations next month.

Movie studios and distributors have a lot riding on movie awards season, which technically kicked off earlier this month with the inaugural American Film Institute Awards. But the horse race has historically begun with the Golden Globes and runs through to the Oscars on March 24. In between are a stream of lower-profile kudofests.

``What nominations and awards essentially do is take people who are on the fence about seeing a film and pushes them over,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. ```In The Bedroom' is a definite water cooler film that people are talking about. It's a small film, not a typical Hollywood blockbuster. But if it gets enough attention, it will be an indie hit.''

The Golden Globes, bestowed annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, will air on NBC in a star-studded program that typically draws high ratings.

``If a film is nominated in a lot of categories, it gets a lot of clips on the show, and it hits people's radars,'' said Dan Marks, executive vice president of AC Nielsen EDI, which tracks the industry's box office. ``All that free publicity generates new interest.''

``In the Bedroom'' scored Globe nominations for Sissy Spacek (lead actress-drama) and Marisa Tomei (supporting actress) as well as a nod for best picture-drama and could add handsomely to its $8 million gross with a win in any of those major categories.

(The Globes split the top acting and best picture awards into separate categories for drama and musical or comedy.)

``Gosford Park'' jumped into the box office top 10 last weekend, earning an impressive $3.8 million on just 518 screens. The ensemble drama competes for Globes tonight in the categories of best picture-musical or comedy, supporting actress (Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith) and director (Robert Altman).

Last year, it was the martial arts epic ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' and the narcotics drama ``Traffic'' that benefited enormously from the awards season starting with the Globes.

``Those films were given legitimacy and credibility with mainstream audiences,'' Dergarabedian said. ``Across the country, people had maybe heard of 'Crouching Tiger' but were hesitant to see a subtitled film. But after the Golden Globes and the Oscar nominations, at that point, the film could not be ignored by anyone interested in going to the movies.''

Golden Globe and Oscar nominations can also help the box-office rich get even richer.

The drama ``A Beautiful Mind'' has been the second most popular film at the box office the past two weekends, earning a formidable $59 million to date. It will not only compete for best picture-drama at the Globes but also scored high-profile nominations for Russell Crowe (lead actor-drama), Jennifer Connelly (best supporting actress) and Ron Howard (best director). Wins in some of those categories should extend the film's strong box office momentum.

Similarly, if current box office champ ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' wins the top prize at the Globes and scores multiple Oscar nominations, it could dramatically prolong the film's already remarkable run of more than $200 million in domestic ticket sales to date.

Recent history bears this out.

In 1999, the war epic ``Saving Private Ryan'' had already grossed $190 million at the box office by the time Oscar nominations were announced and it won the Globe for best picture-drama. It went on to earn another $25 million. Another multiple Oscar nominee that year, ``Shakespeare in Love,'' earned an additional $50 million after nominations and a Globe win for best picture-musical or comedy.

Meanwhile, an underperforming film like ``Ali'' could benefit greatly if Will Smith were to win the Golden Globe for best actor-drama on Sunday. The film about the legendary boxer dropped out of the top 10 last week despite increased publicity tied to the 60th birthday of Muhammad Ali. When Tom Hanks won the Globe last year for ``Cast Away,'' the movie took in $7.5 million that week and crossed the $200 million threshold at the box office. In 1999, Denzel Washington's win in the same category for his performance in ``The Hurricane'' immediately boosted that film's performance at the box office as well.

And in 1992, ``The Crying Game'' had a mere $21 million in ticket sales before the Academy Award nominations were announced. When the film landed a nomination for Best Picture, it went on to gross an additional $42 million domestically.

``The films that the studios really feel have a chance of winning these awards, they will put a lot of marketing muscle behind them,'' Dergarabedian said. ``The financial ripple effect of a nomination and an Oscar win for best picture can be enormous.''

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Little-seen but critically acclaimed films like ``Gosford Par k'' stand to gain the most at the box office if they fare well at nationally televised awards shows like the Golden Globes.

USA Films