Great Opening Number, But Most Golden Globes Viewers Haven’t Seen ‘La La Land’

The Golden Globes began with a gorgeous homage to awards favorite “La La Land,” featuring host Jimmy Fallon and his old friends Tina Fey and Justin Timberlake. But most of the people watching tonight didn’t see the film, which has already scored four Globes.

The sequence of Fallon emerging from an armada of gridlocked limos might intrigue Golden Globe viewers to see the Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone musical — and could give it a box-office boost.

Despite its status as a leading awards contender, “La La Land” has made a modest $51.6 million domestically. At last year’s average ticket price of $8.42 (a number provided by the National Association of Theatre Owners), that adds up to about 6.1 million people who bought tickets to “La La Land” — with a few thousand insiders and media types seeing it for free.

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Last year, 18.5 million people tuned in for Ricky Gervais’ second turn at the wheel, which was down from 19.3 million the year before. Assuming the same viewership as last year (and that everyone who saw “La La Land” is watching the Globes), that would leave more than than two-thirds of today’s TV audience out of the loop.

Lionsgate’s “La La Land” has been nominated for seven Golden Globes: Gosling and Stone for Best Actor and Actress in a Musical or Comedy, respectively; Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture; Best Director (Damien Chazelle); Best Original Score (Justin Hurwitz); Best Original Song; and Best Screenplay (Chazelle). The movie has already won for Best Actor, Best Original Score, Best Screenplay and Best Original Song.

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