“With both the PGA and DGA nominations listing exactly the same films — The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen and Babel — many pundits have written off the chances of any other movie having a real Best Picture chance now,” Hollywood Wiretap‘s Pete Hammond says in his latest column.
“The fact that all but one of those films have been widely screened since early fall and the other one, the December-released Dreamgirls, started its extensive screening program on 11.15, should bury the idea once and for all that coming out in the last month of the year is an advantage.
“As with everything else in Hollywood, the importance of being seen is key. Lions Gate, which scored so heavily with it√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s May opening strategy of Crash in 2005, is starting its campaign for the Julie Christie Alzheimers drama, Away From Her, which opens May 5th. Look for others to follow suit.”