Producers give top prize to 'Chicago'

LOS ANGELES, March 3 (UPI) -- "Chicago" became the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar in Los Angeles Sunday, when the Producers Guild of America named it best picture of 2002.

The PGA award for best picture -- formally known as the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year award -- has been a fairly reliable indicator of eventual Oscar winners since the award was established in 1989. Of the 13 PGA winners, nine have gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The other PGA nominees this year were: "Adaptation," "Gangs of New York," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," "Road to Perdition" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

Only three of those movies -- "Chicago," "Gangs of New York" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" -- are also nominated this year for the Best Picture Oscar. The other two Oscar-nominated pictures -- "The Hours" and "The Pianist" -- were conspicuously absent from the PGA list.

"Chicago" -- which is also a commercial hit, with a U.S. box-office gross of more than $100 million -- has history on its side on several counts, in the chase for the top Oscar.

In addition to the PGA Award trend, the musical version of Bob Fosse's hit Broadway musical also goes into the Academy Awards with more nominations than any other movie -- 13. As a rule, the movie with the most nominations goes on to take Best Picture.

"Chicago" also has going for it a Directors Guild of America win on Saturday for Rob Marshall.

Since the DGA started handing out prizes for top feature film directors in 1948, the winner has gone on to take Oscar every year but five -- suggesting that Marshall is the frontrunner for the Best Director Oscar. That also points to a Best Picture Oscar for "Chicago," since Academy voters have also exhibited a strong tendency to link their choices for best picture to their preferences for best director.

In TV awards, Fox's "24" won the Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television as the top drama series. HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" won the Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television for a comedy series.

The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Longform Television went to the HBO movie "Live from Baghdad." The first-ever Producer of the Year Award in Reality/Game/Informational Series went to A&E's "Biography."

The PGA also honored Motion Picture Association of America president Jack Valenti with its Milestone Award, in recognition of his "historical contribution to the entertainment industry." Veteran producer Robert Evans ("The Godfather," "Love Story") received the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures.

Producer-director Bud Yorkin ("All in the Family," "The Jeffersons") received the David Susskind Lifetime Achievement Award in Television. And George Lucas received the Vanguard Award, in recognition of his "outstanding achievement in new media and technology."

The producers also presented the Visionary Award -- honoring producers of either television or film whose work demonstrates a "unique or uplifting quality" -- to Rita Wilson for "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Todd Black and Denzel Washington received the Stanley Kramer Award -- which honors producers "whose work illuminates provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion" -- for "Antwone Fisher."