MOVIEGOERS TUNE IN TO 'CHICAGO'.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

The movie musical ``Chicago,'' packing in audiences since its limited release last month, is reaping all kinds of positive publicity after winning three Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, including a best picture statue.

The Miramax Films release was one of five movies to win at least two Globes during a three-hour telecast Sunday night on NBC. This spreading of the riches has given studios some extra marketing cachet for their films as they prepare for nationwide box office expansion.

Newspaper movie ads Monday for ``Chicago,'' ``The Hours,'' ``Adaptation,'' ``About Schmidt'' and ``Gangs of New York'' were already prominently touting Golden Globe wins. While awards from various critics groups and guilds might be considered more prestigious by those in the film industry, the Golden Globes now have the rapt attention of the movie-going public, according to box office analysts.

``I see it only as a net gain for all of these movies that received positive exposure Sunday night by being nominated, by having their stars out there and especially winning awards,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co.

``Every time a product is mentioned in the press or is shown on television, it boosts sales. Isn't that Marketing 101? The greater the exposure, the greater the awareness.''

For example, clips from ``Chicago'' were shown at the Globes and stars Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere made spirited and emotional speeches as they accepted awards for best actress and actor, respectively, in a musical or comedy.

By adding 195 theaters, ``Chicago'' played in 557 locations during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and was the sixth-highest-grossing movie in the marketplace with an estimated $9.1 million worth of tickets sold. It will expand nationwide into more than 1,000 theaters this weekend.

The win for best picture-drama for Paramount Pictures' ``The Hours'' is seen as a major marketing boost as is the win by Nicole Kidman for best actress-drama.

``The Hours'' features the lofty acting trio of Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep and has grossed $8.39 million to date, earning an estimated $5.7 million as it expanded to 402 theaters (from 45) on Friday.

Along with ``Chicago,'' ``The Hours'' is considered by many to be the front-runner for multiple Academy Award nominations next month. But it has been a difficult film to market since it delves into such serious themes as depression and death.

``When you look at trailers, you just know it's about three women in three different time periods,'' said Brandon Gray, editor and founder of Box Office Mojo.com. ``They haven't been able to convey what it's about in the marketing but it did very well in its expansion.''

Sony Pictures Entertainment's ``Adaptation'' lost out to ``Chicago'' in several categories but it had two high-profile winners with Streep and Chris Cooper, who scored trophies in the supporting categories.

Rory Bruer, president of distribution of Sony Pictures Releasing, said Monday that the Globe wins for ``Adaptation'' is ``certainly a nice shot in the arm'' for the quirky picture.

The film is still in limited release in 564 locations and had an estimated four-day gross of $2.1 million over the holiday weekend for a cumulative gross of $12.2 million. Plans for a wider release are not yet firm.

``We are going to continue to go slow heading into the Academy Awards season and kind of play it by ear,'' Bruer said. ``We are going to continue to plug away.''

Other multiple winners were New Line Cinema's ``About Schmidt,'' which won a best actor-drama Globe for star Jack Nicholson and best screenplay honors for Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor; and Miramax's ``Gangs of New York,'' which won Martin Scorsese his first directorial award. ``Gangs'' also won the original song award for U2's ``The Hands That Built America.''

``Schmidt'' is now playing in 946 theaters and has a cumulative gross of $30.5 million to date even though it has played in less than half the number of theaters as most wide releases. ``Gangs'' has the most to gain from awards attention since it has done only mediocre business since its Dec. 20 release with an estimated $61.5 million cumulative gross to date.

``Luckily, the Globes are in the middle of January, which is when most of these films have gone into national release or are about to go into national release,'' Dergarabedian said. ``It's been a month or more since some of these were released in a limited capacity. Most of the people across the country who saw the Globes (Sunday) night will have access to these films - if not now, very soon.''

New Line's ``The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' was shut out at the Globes on Sunday but it doesn't need awards to generate box office business. The film crossed the $300 million mark Monday, according to studio estimates, after grossing $12.9 million during the holiday weekend.

While awards-caliber movies try to build audiences and word-of-mouth buzz this month, it was three critically-drubbed comedies that are dominating the top three spots at the box office.

``Kangaroo Jack,'' a Castle Rock film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, led the box office receipts with an estimated $21.8 million over the weekend.

``It just worked across the board,'' said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros., which released the film. ``It seems like we struck a chord, the exit polls were great and it looks like we'll be hopping around for a long time.''