Specialty films The Wrestler and The Reader will likely see a bump at the weekend box office following their recent Golden Globe wins, though Alliance Films expects the real rush will come when the Academy Award nominations are announced next week.

As such, Wrestler, which handed Mickey Rourke the best actor Globe, will modestly expand from 12 to 21 screens as it heads to key markets including Calgary, Winnipeg and Edmonton on Friday.

Alliance SVP of marketing and publicity Mark Slone says the distributor anticipates Oscar accolades for Wrestler, and plans to add screens accordingly.

‘We’re really trying to time our widest expansion for when the highest awareness will be out there,’ Slone explains.

Wrestler, about a washed-up professional wrestler trying to put his life back together, has made $396,000 to date since opening Dec. 25.

Alliance also has The Reader, featuring a Golden Globe-winning performance by Kate Winslet, which remains on 39 screens on Friday, while the critically acclaimed Sean Penn-starrer Milk continues to play on 24.

‘The most typical time to expand is the period between the [Oscar] nominations and the award ceremony itself,’ Slone notes. The distributor last year saw a 92% jump in film grosses for Oscar darling No Country for Old Men in the week leading up to the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Alliance is going wide with Golden Globe nominee Last Chance Harvey, starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, which bows on 90 screens Friday.

Slone says unlike the other films, Harvey is a mainstream, commercial romantic comedy with two big actors, adding that award noms are not as key to its release strategy.

The distributor also expects to see a boost in DVD sales for the Woody Allen comedy Vicky Christina Barcelona — due out on Jan. 27 — which garnered the Globe for best motion picture comedy, and could snag an Oscar nom next Thursday.

Also opening Friday is Maple Pictures’ horror remake My Bloody Valentine 3D on 152 screens, while Mongrel Media bows Palme d’Or winner The Class in Toronto, followed by Montreal next week. KinoSmith Films is releasing the French drama Rumba in Toronto, while Alliance Vivafilm opens the Quebec drama Serveuses demandées, from producer Kevin Tierney, in la belle province.

Among U.S. releases is the Second World War drama Defiance from Paramount Vantage, while DreamWorks and Columbia court broader audiences with the family flick Hotel for Dogs and comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop, respectively.