'Brokeback Mountain' is #1 Movie in America;

Film Surges Following Golden Globe Wins;

International Boxoffice Also Off to Chart-Top Start as Film Garners 9 BAFTA

Award Nominations

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Demonstrating its clear-cut filmgoer
appeal worldwide, Focus Features' "Brokeback Mountain" has ascended to
the top of the national domestic boxoffice, and is also off to a
chart-topping start in its first overseas engagements in the U.K. and
France. The breakout business follows the film's 4 Golden Globe Award
wins earlier this week (more than any other film) and 9 BAFTA Award
nominations (including Best Film) earlier today.

Playing to a steadily expanding audience in a host of U.S. cities and
towns, the Ang Lee-directed film vaulted to the top of the national
boxoffice charts on Tuesday to rank as the #1 film in America.
"Brokeback Mountain" had been #9 over the recent four-day holiday
weekend, which was then capped off by the film being honored with 4
Golden Globe Awards (including Best Picture [Drama] and Best Director)
during Monday's televised ceremonies.

The "Brokeback Mountain" domestic gross on Tuesday was $742,412. The
film had already been maintaining the highest per-theater average of
any film in the national boxoffice Top 20 over the holiday weekend,
and continues to do so. The Wednesday gross rose again, to $748,028,
as the film retained the #1 slot. The total domestic theatrical gross
of "Brokeback Mountain," through Wednesday, now stands at $33.6
million. The film is already among Focus Features' Top 5 boxoffice
performers of all time, and is on track to become the company's
biggest ever.

Focus president of theatrical distribution Jack Foley commented, "The
unusual midweek surge to -- and hold on -- the top slot is
particularly impressive in that the film is playing in only 683
theaters, which is but a fraction of the runs of the other films in
the national boxoffice Top 10. The growth potential is still evolving
and more and more exhibitors are requesting the film, so we're going
to expand to 1,194 theaters for the coming weekend."

Overseas, "Brokeback Mountain" is #1 in the U.K. in only its second
week of release. Playing in only 275 theaters, the film has earned
nearly 3.5 million pounds sterling (equivalent to $6.1 million) to
date. Debuting yesterday in France with 155 prints, the film is the
highest-ranked new release with 37,331 admissions, and is the #1 film
overall in Paris.

Focus co-presidents David Linde and James Schamus said, "Focus has
worldwide rights to "Brokeback Mountain," and we are gratified that
this universal love story is being embraced not only in America but
now abroad. The BAFTA Award nominations the film earned earlier today
will solidify the great business in the U.K., and, coupled with our
Globes and other awards wins, provide the ideal launching pad for a
successful international run through the winter and spring."

Focus Features (www.focusfeatures.com) is a motion picture production,
financing, and worldwide distribution company committed to bringing
moviegoers the most original stories from the world's most innovative
filmmakers.

In addition to "Brokeback Mountain," current and upcoming Focus
Features releases include Fernando Meirelles' "The Constant Gardener,"
starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz (nominated for 10 BAFTA
Awards); Joe Wright's "Pride & Prejudice," starring Keira Knightley
(nominated for 6 BAFTA Awards); Sanaa Hamri's "Something New,"
starring Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker; Rian Johnson's "Brick,"
starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (winner of a Special Jury Prize at the
2005 Sundance Film Festival); Gaby Dellal's "On a Clear Day," starring
Peter Mullan and Brenda Blethyn; Peter Cattaneo's family film "Opal
Dream"; Phillip Noyce's "Hotstuff," starring Tim Robbins and Derek
Luke; Allen Coulter's "Truth, Justice and the American Way," starring
Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, and Diane Lane; and Shane Acker's animated
fantasy epic "9," produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and Jim
Lemley & Dana Ginsburg.

Focus Features is part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading
media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and
marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global
audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi
Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable
portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture
company, significant television production operations, a leading
television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC
Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by
Vivendi Universal. SOURCE Focus Features