Murphy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on January 23, 2007, but lost to Alan Arkin for his performance in "Little Miss Sunshine"—it was speculated that one of the reasons Murphy lost out on winning the Academy Award was the negative reviews of his subsequent film "Norbit", released in early February 2007. Murphy notoriously exited the 79th Academy Awards as soon as Arkin was announced the winner. "Dreamgirls" was the first film distributed by Paramount Pictures to star Murphy (who once was on an exclusive contract with the studio) since "Vampire in Brooklyn" in 1995.