DREAMWORKS - PARAMOUNT TO EXPAND DREAMGIRLS THIS WEEKEND

Parmount, which initiated a so-called platform release of the Paramount/DreamWorks musical Dreamgirls last month, plans to increase the number of theaters showing it to more than 2000 next weekend, it said Tuesday. The move follows the film's selection as the best comedy/musical movie of 2006 at the Golden Globes awards Monday night. "With the Globes, you do get a lot of publicity -- especially when you win," Jim Tharp, Paramount's head of distribution, told today's (Wednesday) Los Angeles Daily News. The film also won in the supporting actress/actor categories for Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy. Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office trackers Media By Numbers, told the newspaper, "I think Dreamgirls is going to bask in the afterglow of those Golden Globe wins." Meanwhile, Babel, which won the Golden Globe for best drama, is expected to expand from 173 theaters to at least 800, the Daily News said.

17/01/2007