Dreamgirls Hits the Road

Tue., Nov. 7, 2006 7:39 AM PST by Gina Serpe

Producers are hoping a Dreamgirls road show will be a dream come true... at least, come awards season.

The marketing wiz kids over at DreamWorks are campaigning old-school for their booty bids, announcing plans to launch a Dreamgirls road show in advance of the film's release in order to build buzz for the flick.

According to Paramount, the road show simultaneously launches in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on Dec. 15, a good 10 days before middle America is privy to the musical stylings of Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx.

The Bill Condon-directed musical screens at just one theater per city, one time per day during its exclusive engagements—emphasis on exclusive.

Each screening features reserved seating for the audience and tickets cost $25 per head. Of course, moviegoers will get more bang for their considerable buck: Each theater's lobby will be decked out with exhibits chronicling the making of the film and, much like live theater venues, will have sales booths where insta-fans can buy movie merchandise and the film soundtrack.

Patrons also receive a limited-edition program of the flick, and—arguably most enticing of all—those who shell out the extra cash for a screening get to watch the film sans pre-movie commercials, trailers or previews of any kind, so as not to detract from the cinematic experience.

"We wanted to bring it to audiences in a special way, and we think this road show does the film justice," Jim Tharp, Paramount's president of distribution, told Variety.

The idea behind the road show, an admittedly old-fashioned tactic, is to make the moviegoing experience into more of a live theater event for the audience, with the ultimate goal being word-of-mouth hype, bigger box office and, hopefully, awards-show glory.

The last movie to engage in such a blatant, though apparently successful, approach was the 1972 musical Man of La Mancha, which went on to snare both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

Dreamgirls, based on the Broadway musical of the same name, follows a trio of female soul singers who cross over to the pop charts in the 1960s. It opens in wide release Dec. 25.