Awards contenders enter boxoffice ring

December 04, 2008 Increasingly, the holiday season's more commercial film releases will start sharing the boxoffice spotlight with year-end "prestige" titles as industry awards programs crank into gear and adult moviegoers gravitate to multiplexes. Focus Features' Harvey Milk biopic "Milk," starring Sean Penn, and Fox Searchlight's Indian game show drama "Slumdog Millionaire" also figure in nominations handicapping, and their recent limited rollouts have gone tremendously well. Key cast members including Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Beyonce Knowles ensure fan appeal, but a barely wide theater count of fewer than 700 playdates reflects the pic's modest ambitions.

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