In the first weekend since the Academy Award nominations were announced, best- picture contenders “The Queen,” “The Departed,” “Letters From Iwo Jima” and “Babel” opened in additional theaters to cash in on Oscar heat.
But instead of box office sizzle, they essentially fizzled.
Most of the acclaimed films enjoyed only modest increases in ticket sales as audiences flocked to non-Oscar fare like “Epic Movie,” “Smokin’ Aces” and “Night at the Museum.”
“It’s obvious that studios, in reaction to the Oscar nominations, have made these films more available to the public,” said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers LLC. “But it all depends on where these films are at in their theatrical run. Are they played out? Do they still have a lot of potential?
“Films like ‘The Queen’ and ‘Babel’ and any others that have earned less than $50 million at the box office have the most potential to see pretty significant increases.”
“Departed” comes back
The most successful best-picture nominee, “The Departed,” was expanded by 1,326 theaters after being in just over 100 locations the week before. Already a box office hit during its run last fall, “Departed” added $3.4 million to its total for an overall gross of $125.2 million.
But that’s as good as it gets for the best-picture contenders.
“Babel” added 201 locations to bring its theater count to 1,090 theaters. It grossed $2.56 million, up 25 percent from the previous weekend, for a cumulative gross of just $27.2 million.
“The Queen” seems to be greatly benefiting from its best- picture nod and slew of acting awards being won by the film’s star, Helen Mirren. With the addition of 244 locations to bring its total up to 1,830 theaters, “The Queen” landed firmly in the top 10 with a weekend take of $4 million, up 18 percent. The drama has an overall gross of $41.25 million.
“Letters From Iwo Jima” is slowly making its way into release and played in only 415 theaters over the weekend. The Clint Eastwood-directed World War II film took in just $1.9 million, but that was a 38 percent increase from a weekend earlier. “Iwo Jima” has earned $5 million to date.
“For the big nominees, it’s about being slow and steady, about bringing in more audiences week after week,” said Gitesh Pandya, editor of
BoxOfficeGuru.com. “You aren’t going to see too many more expansions going forward except maybe for ‘Iwo Jima,’ which is still relatively new, still barely making its way out.”
“Sunshine” on DVD
The fifth best-picture nominee, “Little Miss Sunshine,” has largely wrapped up its theatrical run but has seen a huge jump in DVD sales. The movie, No. 4 on the Amazon.com hot sellers list Monday, has sold 2.5 million copies in the first four weeks of its DVD release, which amounts to just over $40 million in revenue, according to Fox Home Entertainment.
“Sales have doubled since the Oscar announcements,” said Steve Feldstein of Fox Home Entertainment. “It has expanded awareness. Unlike the rest of the pictures, we are looking at the bump at the cash registers instead of the box office.”
“Sunshine” has emerged as something of an Oscar front- runner after its cast won the top Screen Actors Guild prize Sunday and the best-picture award from the Producers Guild of America a week earlier.
It was in only 27 theaters and grossed just $25,665 last weekend. It is not expected to add much more to its domestic gross of $59.6 million. In fact, its DVD revenue is likely to exceed its box office total before the Feb. 25 Oscar ceremony.
