LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - While seven new wide releases will jostle for the attention of moviegoers on Christmas weekend, reigning champ "King Kong" and former chart-topper "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe" will for the No. 1 spot.
"Kong" grabbed the crown last weekend with a debut of $50.1 million to "Narnia's" sophomore-frame gross of $31.8 million. But with each passing day, more kids are out of school for vacation, and the midweek numbers for "Narnia" have been edging closer to those of "Kong," actually overtaking Peter Jackson's ape picture Wednesday.
The numbers were close: "Narnia" captured $4.94 million for the day, and "Kong" claimed $4.87 million.
"Brokeback Mountain" expands to 217 theaters, hoping to exploit award nominations in order to cross over to more mainstream audiences. The Western drama from directorAng Lee about an affair between two male ranch hands has picked up $3.5 million to date.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gay and political films are dominating this year'sAcademy Awards race with some experts expecting that Oscar will wind up wearing pink, either for left-leaning politics or sexual preference.
As Hollywood starts its annual awards season leading to the March 5 Oscars, key front-runners in main categories are either gay-themed or political films, with Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," a drama of love between cowboys, leading the pack in the all-important best picture race.
"It could be the gay Oscars this year because gay-themed movies could win almost all the major awards," said Tom O'Neill, show business awards columnist for The Envelope.Com., referring to the sudden dominance "Brokeback Mountain" has gained so early in the race.
"'Brokeback' is going to be hard to beat. Rarely do we have this kind of award consensus for a movie, and its director (Taiwan's Ang Lee) is long overdue for an Oscar," O'Neill said.
"Brokeback," the first gay romance to make a bid for mainstream respectability, has already won the top awards handed out by critics in New York and Los Angeles and copped seven nominations for the January 16 Golden Globes, often a key indicator as to which way the Oscar wind might be blowing.
As for political films -- the field is crowded with potential winners: "Munich," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Syriana," and "The Constant Gardener."
Many experts predict that "Brokeback's" toughest competition could come from either George Clooney's "Goodnight, and Good Luck," a steely-eyed examination of the McCarthy era, or "Munich," Steven Spielberg's study of the price Israel paid for its reprisals for the murder of its athletes at the 1972 Olympics.
