Summit’s gradual Hurt Locker rollout is more or less patterned after the successful territory-by-territory, word-of-mouth-building expansions that resulted in big returns for Slumdog Millionaire and Gran Torino, reports Forbes‘ Laura Myers. She states that Kathy Bigelow‘s film “may become the year’s independent breakout by combining early box-office success with critical acclaim.”

But the proof will be in the chocolate pudding as the film expands to 93 siutations this weekend and then to 200 situations on 7.24. The key, of course, given the general laziness and scattered ADD mentalities out there, will be TV advertising. Word of mouth is well and good and vital for success, but you also have to grab people by the lapels and go “hey!”