THEATERS' FINGERS CROSSED NOMINEES HOPE FOR OSCAR BOUNCE.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

This year's crop of Academy Award best picture contenders may have caught the eye of Oscar voters, but none can be considered a major box office hit - at least not yet.

The Oscar attention is expected to greatly boost business for ``Brokeback Mountain,'' ``Munich,'' ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' and ``Capote'' at the multiplex, and for ``Crash'' on DVD shelves in the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards on March 5.

``Each of these films is holding a potential winning lottery ticket,'' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``The excitement is building between now and the Oscar telecast when they can make the most of the nomination period which is the best for box office.''

Combined, the five best picture contenders have grossed $187.5 million domestically, the same amount grossed by 2002 best picture winner ``Gladiator'' alone.

``There's still a lot of box office left in a lot of these films because none of them are even at $100 million yet,'' Dergarabedian said.

``Brokeback,'' which received the most nominations Tuesday with eight nods, has had a slow rollout over the past eight weeks and had grossed just more than $51 million as of Sunday.

Focus Features, which has carefully handled the release of its controversial film about two cowboys who fall in love, will be giving ``Brokeback'' its biggest run yet when it expands to more than 2,000 theaters on Friday.

``We were planning for this great moment and our expectations the weekend are high even with the Super Bowl being there, which is why we are pushing up our number of theaters,'' said Focus distribution head Jack Foley. ``Now if we can just dig deeper into the marketplace with more commercial moviegoers than we've got so far, there's still more money to be had. I'm hoping the younger group, under 25, comes out in greater volume in the coming weeks.''

``Brokeback'' director Ang Lee said at last weekend's Directors Guild Awards that the prizes from critics' groups, guilds and the Golden Globes have already resulted in more people seeing the movie and any Oscar attention should help propel it along.

``It definitely helps,'' Lee said. ``These things feed off each other. The success reminds the voters to pay attention to it. And from the voting, people know it's in the news and in ads and that will bring them to the movie theater. The award thing is free publicity, too.''

``Munich'' was down to less than 1,000 theaters by Oscar nomination day but Universal Pictures hopes to leverage its best picture and best director nominations (Steven Spielberg) by adding about 150 theaters Friday and more in the weeks to come. Domestic grosses were at $40.6 million as of Sunday.

``Hopefully, it grows and grows,'' said Nikki Rocco, Universal's president of distribution. ``With the nominations, we are getting tremendous support from exhibition. There's still a lot of people who need to see this movie.''

``Good Night, and Good Luck,'' released by Warner Independent Classics, has grossed just $25.1 million domestically and is playing in only 105 theaters. The studio plans to give it its widest release ever this weekend as it expands to 925 locations, said Steven Friedlander, WIP's head of distribution.

``It opened up on 11 screens as a black-and-white history lesson,'' Friedlander said Tuesday. ``Now, it's a George Clooney-directed picture with six Oscar nominations. We are hoping as many people as possible see it in the theaters. Tthat's the best way to see it.''

The film earned a best director nod for Clooney and best actor nomination for David Strathairn.

``Capote,'' which was nominated for five awards, has performed modestly at the box office, earning just $15.3 million to date. Sony Picture Classics was still determining Friday how many theaters ``Capote'' would expand to Friday. It is currently in just 325 locations.

``The good news is the movie is going to be released wider,'' the film's producer Michael Ohoven said Tuesday. ``We don't have the big (prints and advertising) machine behind it. Now with this recognition, this is a way to get this movie out there and people will see it now. It really helps.''

``Crash,'' released earlier than any of the other best picture contenders, grossed $55.4 million during its theatrical run and had already been a strong seller and rental title on DVD. The best picture nod should give it a home video boost.

While ``Walk the Line'' didn't receive an expected best picture nod, it is already a big hit at the box office with a domestic gross of $106.2 million earned over three months in theaters. Its lead acting nominations for stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon and five nods overall could extend its life-span in theaters.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) Eric Bana and Geoffrey Rush talk in a scene from ``Munich,'' which received five Oscar nods Tuesday.

Universal Pictures