Slumdog Millionaire inched its way close to Oscar gold when the Producers Guild of America voted it best picture Saturday.
The indie darling, a gritty yet heartwarming drama about a game-show contestant from the slums of Mumbai, beat out Milk, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight and Frost/Nixon.
Many believed the guild would pick The Dark Knight because producers care a lot about their films’ succeeding financially — and we all know the Batman flick was the second-biggest-grossing pic of all time, surpassed only by Titanic.
But Slumdog Millionaire has the underdog factor working for it. Produced for only $14 million, it’s already grossed $48 million in the U.S. and will probably exceed $80 million in total. The best part is it was slated to go direct to DVD after Warner Independent went under, only to be rescued by Fox Searchlight.
Now while the PGA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences haven’t always seen eye to eye when picking their best pictures, the PGA Awards have gotten it right at least 12 times in the last 19 years, L.A. Times’ Gold Derby reports.
They picked the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men last year, for example. But in 2006, PGA voters made the surprising choice of Little Miss Sunshine over Oscars’ The Departed.
We’ll see where the wind blows Feb. 22, when the Academy Awards are handed out.
