By Randee Dawn

Filmmakers like to joke about the monster that ate Manhattan; this week, it was all about the film that took over the city – The Weinstein Co.’s “Nine” was simply everywhere, at least if you had the right invites.

First there was the A-list luncheon at Per Se on Monday, where everyone from castmembers Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard to guests including Larry King, Martha Stewart and Joel Grey supped and schmoozed the afternoon away. Cotillard did admit to having had a cheeseburger and fries prior to coming to the lunch, which explained her avoiding the chi-chi fare from Thomas Keller’s kitchen … but even she gave in during dessert.

It was a lunch that lasted over three hours, prompting Stewart to depart early, but not before muttering, “I had no idea this was going to be an all-day affair.” Meanwhile, Harvey Weinstein was pressing the flesh and acting … dare it be said: charming.

Musicals clearly haven’t come easy to Weinstein, who admitted the next night in his Zeigfeld Theater premiere introduction that when his mother took him to “The Sound of Music” as a child, he darted once the nuns appeared on camera and ducked into the refuge of “Goldfinger.” But the audience – which this time included all major cast members aside from Sophia Loren – had a different reaction, and applauded after nearly every major song and dance number in the film.

Later at the M2 after-party, director Rob Marshall said the reaction was ”overwhelming. There’s nothing like a New York audience – and this was the first of our premieres that I’ve actually sat through, just to enjoy it with my hometown crowd.”

The crowd at M2 seemed subdued at first; the lighting was dark, the cocktails weak and too sweet – but arrivals by cast members and other names like Goldie Hawn (mom to star Kate Hudson) and Madonna (with daughter Lourdes) ratcheted up the buzz factor.

Around midnight, Fergie was enlisted to introduce the soon-to-be-released video of Hudson’s “Cinema Italiano” (recently nominated for a Golden Globe for best original song), and noted, “She has so much talent – she has this soulful, blues voice, and a kickin’ talent nobody knew about.” Now, that’s acting.