Let it ride

"Brokeback Mountain" continued its unlikely run at the box office last weekend, widening its presence at theaters and strengthening its position as the picture to catch in the Academy Awards race.

Ang Lee's cowboy love story wrangled $5.7 million from 483 locations, up from 214 theaters last week. The picture averaged $11,856 per site for the weekend, boosting its total gross to $22.4 million after 31 days.

And the $14 million "Brokeback" did all of that without help from the Golden Globes (the show doesn't take place until next Monday) or Oscar nominations (those don't come in until the end of January).

Perhaps most impressive about "Brokeback Mountain" is that the picture has proven it can play away from the coasts.

In the Salt Lake City area, one theater made headlines when it pulled "Brokeback Mountain" from its screens at the last minute. However, Salt Lake City residents still had a chance to see the movie, and many did — in two out of the three local theaters showing the film, "Brokeback" was the No. 1 draw.

Getting labeled as "that gay cowboy movie" seems to be a blessing and a curse for "Brokeback Mountain." It gave the picture distinction in a crowded market and aroused interest from art house crowds, even if it caused discomfort and giggles among mainstream audiences.

Focus Features is also finding ways to transcend "Brokeback's" limitations. Spurred on by rave reviews, early critics awards and plenty of hype from a compliant media, Focus has mounted a sterling platform release. The distributor has convinced many — including a target audience of women — that the movie is a universal tale of love and repression.

Focus plans to hike "Brokeback's" theater count to around 700 on Friday, ahead of Monday night's Golden Globe Awards, where the film is considered a leading contender in the best drama category.

"Brokeback's" would-be Oscar rivals, "Munich" and "Match Point," also opened wider last weekend, but to much less inspiring results.

Universal Pictures expanded "Munich" into wide release, where the picture met with an indifferent box office reception that won't help its Oscar cause.

Director Steven Spielberg's $70 million drama about Israel's retaliation against the Palestinian terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics logged $7.6 million at 1,485 theaters, raising its total to $22.4 million in 17 days.

By comparison, "A History of Violence" and "The Constant Gardener" — a pair of similarly toned thrillers — each did more than $8 million in their first weekends of wide release last fall. And that was with significantly fewer resources and a lower pedigree.

"Munich" is on track to become Spielberg's least popular picture since 1997's "Amistad." That film, another historical drama released in December, foundered at Oscar time.

Woody Allen, though, could see his best gross in five years with "Match Point," a foray into the thriller genre for the comedic writer-director. Of course, a peak gross for a Woody Allen picture is merely a fraction of one of Spielberg's low points.

DreamWorks lobbed "Match Point" into 304 venues, an increase of 296 theaters over last weekend, and notched $2.7 million, averaging a decent $8,912 per site. The distributor plans to move "Match Point" to more than 700 theaters on Jan. 20.

The last time the total gross for a Woody Allen picture reached eight digits was in 2000, with "Small Time Crooks."