‘Gangs’ to be sprung Dec. 20

Miramax’s “Gangs of New York,” which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, hits the streets on Dec. 20. That’s five days before DreamWorks rolls out “Catch Me if You Can,” another DiCaprio vehicle.

“It was probably not in anyone’s best interest to release it on the same day as ‘Catch Me if You Can,’ ” Miramax chief operating officer Rick Sands said Thursday.

Miramax’s Dec. 20 release date still enables the film to draw from the herd of college students who are home for vacation and tend to go see movies “with immediacy,” Sands said.

“Gangs of New York,” directed by Martin Scorsese, is Miramax’s largest movie ever, with a budget that ran well over the $100-million mark, a completion date a year late and star power including Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis.