For a movie that once looked like it might never make it into theaters, "Slumdog Millionaire" continued its remarkable ascendancy Thursday, as the love story of an Indian game show contestant collected four Golden Globe nominations, including top drama, director and screenplay.
While "Slumdog Millionaire" did not capture the most nominations -- voters of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. handed five nominations to "Frost/Nixon," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Doubt" -- its Golden Globe recognition marked another step in the film's fairy-tale journey.
"You do feel a bit like Cinderella getting invited to the ball," said Christian Colson, the producer of "Slumdog Millionaire," which also was nominated for original score. "You have all these troubles, somebody waves a magic wand, and suddenly you're at the party."
Soon after director Danny Boyle completed filming his movie in Mumbai this year, his American distributor, Warner Independent Pictures, was shut down by parent studio Warner Bros. Warners then considered a number of options for the film, including releasing "Slumdog Millionaire" straight to video, before selling the film's domestic distribution rights to Fox Searchlight (Warners is now sharing Fox Searchlight's costs and revenues).
"What a result, eh?" Boyle said. "It's an extraordinary feeling. The film is a rags-to-riches story -- but the fate of the film is the same. I've never had anything like this recognition for my other films," said Boyle, whose credits include "Trainspotting" and "Millions."
Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in Boyle's "The Beach" and was nominated for a best dramatic actor Globe for "Revolutionary Road," a Dec. 26 release about a suburban couple's crumbling marriage, said he too was roused by "Slumdog Millionaire." "That is some movie," the actor said.
The 85 voters who make up the HFPA are not considered influential (and sometimes not even credible) journalists, and Golden Globe winners do not always repeat at the Academy Awards.
Because the organization gives several awards in two movie categories -- drama and musical or comedy -- its batting average is deceptively high. Last year's top Globe pictures, "Atonement" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," each went on to win only one minor Oscar, and "Sweeney Todd" wasn't nominated for a best picture Academy Award.
