If a movie wins a Golden Globe, but there?s no ceremony, does the prize still count ?

That?s the issue faced by the Hollywood studios behind such films as Atonement and Sweeney Todd, which lost their moments of glory on Sunday to the Hollywood writers strike.

Globe organizers were forced to cancel their usual NBC broadcast after the actors union said it would boycott the event in deference to striking writers. A 30-minute news conference was held instead, with the winners announced by a revolving cast of TV gossip show reporters.

That?s a poor promotional platform for films that would have benefited from primetime exposure during an alcohol-fueled, three-hour broadcast packed with celebrities. ?Certainly it takes away the visibility from us and everybody, which is too bad,? said Jack Foley, president of distribution at General Electric Co?s Focus Features, which released best-drama winner Atonement. ?It?s a big, huge commercial. There are no two ways about it.? Last year, 20 million viewers tuned in to the show, and winners such as The Queen and Babel used the Globes as a springboard to expand nationally the following weekend.

Atonement, which led the field with seven nominations, has earned a modest $25 million after six weeks in release, and is now playing in 950 theaters. (By contrast, box office champ The Bucket List is in 2,911 theaters.) Atonement, which also won for Italian composer Dario Marianelli?s score, was one of four double-winners. The others were the bloody musical Sweeney Todd, the French-language drama The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and the violent thriller No Country For Old Men.

Foley said it would be vital for movies to trumpet their Globes successes in newspaper and TV ads, especially since the following Monday is a holiday in the United States, and Oscar nominations will be announced the day after.

DreamWorks Pictures? Sweeney Todd was named best comedy/musical, and star Johnny Depp took the best actor prize in that category. Director Tim Burton?s musical about a vengeful London barber has earned about $44 million to date.

A spokesman for the Viacom Inc-owned studio hoped the media frenzy at the news conference would yield plenty of publicity for the movie. It will expand next weekend by a few hundred theaters from its current 1,323 tally.

While there is inevitably a lot of overlap between the Globe and Oscar nominees, the Globes have not foreshadowed the best-picture Oscar winner since 2004, when Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King topped both ceremonies.

The Globes are determined by about 90 foreign journalists, and the Oscars by 6,500 industry professionals. Oscar winners will be announced on February 24, assuming the writers strike does not take down Hollywood?s biggest night as well.

LAUREATES

The winners (nevertheless) are?

■ ?Atonement,? a World War Two epic about two lovers torn apart by a family betrayal and the conflict in Europe, won the Golden Globe honor for best film drama, and claimed a second award for best original score.

■ ?Sweeney Todd,? which was based on the popular stage show about a vengeance-seeking barber, also won two of the most coveted awards ? best film musical and best actor in a musical for Johnny Depp, who starred as the barber.

■ Daniel Day-Lewis was named best actor in a drama for his portrayal of a hardscrabble oil prospector who gains enormous wealth in ?There Will Be Blood,? and fellow Briton Julie Christie was best dramatic actress playing an Alzheimer?s disease sufferer in ?Away From Her.?

■ French actress Marion Cotillard won the Golden Globe as best actress in a movie musical for her role as legendary singer Edith Piaf in the subtitled biopic ?La Vie En Rose.?

■ Best supporting acting honors went to Javier Bardem for playing a cold-blooded killer in grim crime thriller ?No Country for Old Men? and to Cate Blanchett for her role as one of several versions of Bob Dylan in a quirky biopic about the singer, ?I?m Not There.?

■ ?The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,? about a paralyzed French journalist who dictates a book by blinking his eye, was named best foreign-language film, and Julian Schnabel earned the Golden Globe for best director for his work on the movie.

■ In television categories, ?Mad Men,? about a group of Madison Avenue advertising executives in the 1960s, was named best TV drama, and HBO?s recently canceled Hollywood satire ?Extras? was best comedy.