Match Point Scores a Hit in Its Opening

DreamWorks' "Match Point," the critically acclaimed new drama from writer/director Woody Allen, enjoyed a smashing debut over the extended New Year holiday weekend, it was announced by DreamWorks head of distribution Jim Tharp. Opening on Wednesday, December 28, on only eight screens in New York and Los Angeles, the film has taken in an estimated $731,000 to date, for an extremely impressive $91,000 per screen average - far and away the best of any other current release, wide or limited.

On the heels of this success, DreamWorks plans to widen the release pattern of "Match Point" to eight more markets on Friday, January 6, two weeks ahead of the expanded release date originally announced by the studio. The film will open in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Washington DC, and Philadelphia, in addition to showing on more screens in New York and Los Angeles. DreamWorks will continue to expand the release pattern of "Match Point" in the weeks ahead.

In making the announcement, Jim Tharp stated, "Critics have been raving about 'Match Point' since it premiered at Cannes last May, and now audiences are discovering that this is a film not to be missed.  This is the kind of movie that platform releases were made for: It is both entertaining and intriguing and has the kind of twists and turns that make people want to talk about it and then see it again with their friends.  We have every confidence that this trend will continue as 'Match Point' expands its run into new markets across the country."

"Match Point" is a drama about ambition and obsession, the seduction of wealth, and the often discordant relationship between love and sexual passion. Perhaps most importantly, however, the story reveals the huge part luck plays in the events of our lives, refuting the comforting misconception that more of life is under our control than really is.

The film stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers ("Bend It Like Beckham," TV's "Elvis"), Scarlett Johansson ("Lost in Translation," "Girl With a Pearl Earring"), Emily Mortimer ("Lovely and Amazing," "Dear Frankie"), Matthew Goode ("Chasing Liberty"), Brian Cox ("The Bourne Identity," "Red Eye") and Penelope Wilton ("Iris," "Pride & Prejudice"). Written and directed by Academy Award(R) winner Woody Allen ("Annie Hall," "Hannah and Her Sisters"), "Match Point" was produced by Letty Aronson, Gareth Wiley and Lucy Darwin.