Every week, we’ll take a look back 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 (starting in January) years into the box office past to explore how Oscar’s nominees were doing at the box office that weekend historically. All data is taken from Box Office Mojo. The first section under each year is the positioning of all Oscar nominees during that weekend at the box office. The second section is an alphabetical list of those films and the categories in which they were nominated. And to start each week off, we’ll be looking at the films releasing over the weekend that have the best chance of getting Oscar nominations and specifying the categories where we think they have the best chance at this stage of the game. Please let us know if you like our new feature or if you want to see more information and we’ll see what we can do!

This Year: Potential Oscar Nominees Releasing This Weekend

Charlotte Rampling: The Look (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Documentary Feature.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 3-5, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

1. Borat – $26,455,463 ($26,455,463 total) {week 1}
5. The Departed – $7,722,388 ($102,004,054 total) {week 5}
6. The Prestige – $7,505,268 ($39,135,541 total) {week 3}
7. Flags of Our Fathers – $4,419,657 ($26,550,769 total) {week 3}
10. The Queen – $2,909,966 ($9,986,970 total) {week 6}
12. Marie Antoinette – $2,212,839 ($12,946,803 total) {week 3}
20. Babel – $919,235 ($1,470,614 total) {week 2}
26. The Illusionist – $372,431 ($38,785,432 total) {week 12}
27. Little Miss Sunshine – $323,863 ($58,268,253 total) {week 15}
28. The Last King of Scotland – $268,855 ($2,809,919 total) {week 6}
30. Volver – $197,703 ($197,703 total) {week 1}
31. Little Children – $173,049 ($1,056,474 total) {week 5}
35. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $121,641 ($421,560,001 total) {week 18}
52. The Devil Wears Prada – $47,601 ($124,610,018 total) {week 19}
61. Deliver Us From Evil – $25,746 ($116,973 total) {week 4}
86. Half Nelson – $6,288 ($2,653,746 total) {week 13}

Oscar Details:

• Babel: Picture, Supporting Actress (Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi), Directing, Original Screenplay, Original Score [O], Editing
• Borat: Adapted Screenplay
• Deliver Us From Evil: Documentary Feature
• The Departed: Picture [O], Director [O], Supporting Actor (Mark Wahlberg), Adapted Screenplay [O], Editing
• The Devil Wears Prada: Actress (Meryl Streep), Costume Design
• Flags of Our Fathers: Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
• Half Nelson: Actor (Ryan Gosling)
• The Illusionist: Cinematography
• The Last King of Scotland: Actor (Forest Whitaker [O])
• Little Children: Actress (Kate Winslet), Supporting Actor (Jackie Earle Haley), Adapted Screenplay
• Little Miss Sunshine: Picture, Supporting Actor (Alan Arkin [O]), Supporting Actress (Abigail Breslin), Original Screenplay [O]
• Marie Antoinette: Costume Design [O]
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: Art Direction, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects [O]
• The Prestige: Cinematography, Art Direction
• The Queen: Picture, Directing, Actress (Helen Mirren [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Costume Design
• Volver: Actress (Penelope Cruz)

10 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 2-4, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

1. Monsters, Inc. – $62,577,067 ($62,577,067 total) {week 1}
8. Training Day – $3,052,422 ($69,569,698 total) {week 5}
19. The Man Who Wasn’t There – $664,404 ($683,947 total) {week 1}
21. Mulholland Drive – $541,015 ($3,725,658 total) {week 4}
28. Shrek – $146,841 ($267,202,507 total) {week 25}
29. Amelie – $136,470 ($136,470 total) {week 1}
48. Ghost World – $51,595 ($5,979,791 total) {week 16}
51. Pearl Harbor – $43,421 ($198,421,875 total) {week 24}
52. Moulin Rouge! – $7,560 ($56,717,986 total) {week 25}

Oscar Details:

• Amelie: Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound, Foreign Language Film
• Ghost World: Adapted Screenplay
• The Man Who Wasn’t There: Cinematography
• Monsters, Inc.: Animated Feature, Original Song (If I Didn’t Have You [O]), Original Score, Sound Editing
• Moulin Rouge!: Picture, Actress (Nicole Kidman), Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction [O], Costume Design [O], Makeup, Sound
• Mulholland Drive: Director (David Lynch)
• Pearl Harbor: Original Song (“There You’ll Be”), Sound, Sound Editing [O], Visual Effects
• Shrek: Animated Feature [O], Adapted Screenplay
• Training Day: Actor (Denzel Washington [O]), Supporting Actor (Ethan Hawke)

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 1-3, 1996

Weekend Box Office:

1. Romeo + Juliet – $11,133,231 ($11,133,231 total) {week 22}
5. The Ghost and the Darkness – $3,660,201 ($31,779,391 total) {week 4}
7. First Wives Club – $3,561,788 ($93,741,105 total) {week 7}
11. Michael Collins – $2,209,786 ($6,067,321 total) {week 4}
12. That Thing You Do! – $1,181,717 ($22,164,288 total) {week 4}
14. Independence Day – $1,001,723 ($302,279,158 total) {week 18}
15. The Rock – $48,929 ($133,955,936 total) {week 22}

Oscar Details:

• First Wives Club: Original Comedy or Musical Score
• The Ghost and the Darkness: Sound Effects Editing [O]
• Independence Day: Sound, Visual Effects [O]
• Michael Collins: Original Score, Cinematography
• The Rock: Sound
• Romeo + Juliet: Art Direction
• That Thing You Do!: Original Song (“That Thing You Do”)

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 1-3, 1991

Weekend Box Office:

9. The Fisher King – $1,786,480 ($33,515,465 total) {week 7}
10. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – $463,755 ($200,348,780 total) {week 18}

Oscar Details:

• The Fisher King: Actor (Robin Williams), Supporting Actress (Mercedes Ruehl [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Art Direction
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day: Editing, Cinematography, Makeup [O], Sound [O], Sound Effects Editing [O], Visual Effects [O]

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 1986

Weekend Box Office:

1. Crocodile Dundee – $5,716,215 ($59,675,856 total) {week 6}
2. The Color of Money – $5,292,685 ($20,788,665 total) {week 3}
4. Peggy Sue Got Married – $3,335,536 ($21,741,232 total) {week 4}
7. Children of a Lesser God – $1,571,939 ($11,714,728 total) {week 5}
10. Top Gun – $1,158,343 ($160,334,394 total) {week 25}
11. Stand By Me – $1,135,510 ($38,632,323 total) {week 13}
12. Blue Velvet – $360,162 ($5,050,635 total) {week 7}
13. The Mission – $40,366 ($40,366 total) {week 1}

Oscar Details:

• Blue Velvet: Director (David Lynch)
• Children of a Lesser God: Picture, Actor (William Hurt), Actress (Marlee Matlin [O]), Supporting Actress (Piper Laurie), Adapted Screenplay
• The Color of Money: Actor (Paul Newman [O]), Supporting Actress (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction
• Crocodile Dundee: Original Screenplay
• The Mission: Picture, Directing, Original Score, Editing, Cinematography [O], Art Direction, Costume Design
• Peggy Sue Got Married: Actress (Kathleen Turner), Cinematography, Costume Design
• Stand By Me: Adapted Screenplay
• Top Gun: Original Song (“Take My Breath Away” [O]), Editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing