Best-Picture Shutout Ends Miramax's 11-Year Run

Miramax did pull off one huge surprise: Its Brazilian drama "City of God" was nominated for best director and three other Oscars. Proving he can still turn the smallest opportunity into a significant advantage, Weinstein said he would move the film into up to 500 theaters within a few weeks -- remarkable for a challenging and violent film that has been in a handful of theaters more than a year and wasn't nominated for the foreign-language Oscar a year ago, when it was eligible in that category.

Miramax may be on the sidelines for best picture, but campaigning will probably be no less contentious. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is considered the best picture front-runner, but the makers of the other four nominated movies are expected to spend tens of millions pushing their films.

"Miramax may have rewritten the book on awards marketing, but Miramax hasn't been alone in driving up the cost and spectacle of academy campaigning," said Tom Ortenberg, whose Lions Gate Films released "Girl With a Pearl Earring," which collected three nominations.

Those behind several contenders for best picture predicted a comparatively civil race, citing not Miramax's absence but the academy's efforts to curtail borderline Oscar politicking.

"So far, it's been a very, very clean campaign. I don't know what could possibly come up in the next weeks," said Russell Schwartz, marketing chief at New Line Cinema, which released all the "Lord of the Rings" films. "It will be an interesting race with or without Miramax."

Miramax has proved that awards attention can propel a film into profitability. At the time nominations were announced for last year's Oscars, its "Chicago" had grossed $64.6 million. The musical went on to win best picture, and, when all the tickets were counted, its gross had swollen to a robust $168.3 million.

"There's no question that [awards attention] was part of the gamble in making the movie," said Tom Rothman of 20th Century Fox, which is distributing "Master and Commander" in a production whose partners include Miramax. The expensive drama collected 10 nominations, trailing only "Rings," which had 11.

Weinstein maintained that "Cold Mountain" would be profitable even without the added income that typically comes to a best picture selection. It has grossed more than $73 million, and he predicted that it would ultimately top $100 million.