LOS ANGELES, Jan 24 NOT playing at a theater near you: many of the films that received Os

LOS ANGELES, Jan 24 (Reuters) NOT playing at a theater near you: many of the films that received Oscar nominations.

To be sure, best picture nominees yesterday such as ''The Departed'' and ''Little Miss Sunshine'' have already had successful runs in wide release, and the latter is out on DVD.

But moviegoers may have to drive beyond their local multiplex to seek out the other best picture nominees: ''Babel,'' ''Letters From Iwo Jima'' and ''The Queen.'' ''Babel,'' which picked up seven nominations -- second only to ''Dreamgirls'' -- played in just 889 theaters across the United States and Canada last weekend, earning 2.1 million dollars. It has earned 23.7 million dollars after 13 weeks.

Distributor Paramount Vantage, a unit of Viacom Inc, says it will expand the globe-spanning exploration of clashing cultures to 1,100 theaters on Friday.

By contrast, recent box office champ ''Night at the Museum'' is playing in more than 3,400 theaters, and it just crossed the 200 million dollars mark.

Clint Eastwood's ''Letters From Iwo Jima'' is even harder to find. The World War Two saga was in 360 theaters last weekend, when it earned $1.4 million, taking its total to 2.4 million dollars after five weeks. Distributor Warner Bros. Pictures plans to add more than 50 locations next weekend. (''Letters'' is big in Japan, where it topped the charts for several weeks, and has grossed 36.7 million dollars.) Warner Bros. had one of its few hits last year with ''The Departed,'' which earned about 122 million dollars, a career-best haul for director Martin Scorsese. The Time Warner Inc-owned studio said it will reissue the film in 1,450 theaters on Friday.

''The Queen,'' currently No. 9 at the box office, has earned a regal 36 million dollars to date. The drama, for which Helen Mirren received a best actress nomination, expanded last weekend to 1,586 theaters, and earned 3.4 million dollars. The film will widen to about 1,800 theaters on Friday, said Miramax Films, a unit of Walt Disney Co.

''The Last King of Scotland,'' which garnered a best actor nomination for Forest Whitaker, played in just 495 theaters last weekend, and has earned just 5.3 million dollars to date.

''Last King'' distributor Fox Searchlight says it has no plans to widen the film dramatically beyond its current theater count.

Internationally, the film is playing only in Britain, where it has earned 4.1 million dollars after two weeks. Fox Searchlight is a unit of News Corp.

Reuters PB DB0934