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

J. Edgar (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Picture, Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Supporting Actor (Armie Hammer), Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Directing, Original Screenplay, Original Score, Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Sound Mixing.

Into the Abyss (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Documentary Feature.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 11-12, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

1. Borat – $28,269,900 ($67,111,765 total) {week 2}
6. Babel – $558,095 ($7,395,357 total) {week 3}
7. The Departed – $5,164,480 ($109,702,938 total) {week 6}
8. The Prestige – $4,778,175 ($46,185,205 total) {week 4}
11. Flags of Our Fathers – $2,811,575 ($30,950,950 total) {week 4}
12. The Queen – $2,714,119 ($13,898,021 total) {week 7}
17. Marie Antoinette – $1,151,617 ($14,884,207 total) {week 4}
25. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $461,858 ($422,065,649 total) {week 19}
28. Little Miss Sunshine – $193,032 ($58,572,436 total) {week 16}
29. The Last King of Scotland – $188,054 ($3,091,373 total) {week 7}
32. Volver – $169,211 ($463,075 total) {week 2}
33. The Illusionist – $165,330 ($39,067,626 total) {week 13}
35. Little Children – $136,070 ($1,253,941 total) {week 6}
50. The Devil Wears Prada – $35,620 ($124,665,689 total) {week 20}
58. Iraq in Fragments – $24,435 ($27,917 total) {week 1}
60. Deliver Us From Evil – $22,221 ($155,945 total) {week 5}
74. Half Nelson – $10,995 ($2,667,944 total) {week 14}

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
• Iraq in Fragments: Documentary Feature
• 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. 9-11, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

1. Monsters, Inc. – $45,551,028 ($122,150,373 total) {week 2}
10. Training Day – $2,023,429 ($72,608,774 total) {week 6}
14. The Man Who Wasn’t There – $1,015,856 ($1,935,810 total) {week 2}
16. Amelie – $773,865 ($1,006,712 total) {week 2}
21. Mulholland Drive – $383,075 ($4,315,443 total) {week 5}
34. Shrek – $121,220 ($267,367,187 total) {week 26}
55. Pearl Harbor – $33,493 ($198,473,555 total) {week 25}
59. Ghost World – $23,686 ($6,021,645 total) {week 17}
60. Moulin Rouge! – $8,088 ($56,733,370 total) {week 26}

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. 8-10, 1996

Weekend Box Office:

2. Romeo + Juliet – $9,026,448 ($23,538,658 total) {week 23}
6. First Wives Club – $2,242,056 ($97,079,441 total) {week 8}
8. The Ghost and the Darkness – $1,727,222 ($34,575,614 total) {week 5}
10. Michael Collins – $1,408,519 ($8,182,610 total) {week 5}
11. Independence Day – $978,214 ($303,624,796 total) {week 19}
12. The Rock – $32,371 ($134,006,721 total) {week 23}

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

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 8-10, 1991

Weekend Box Office:

11. The Fisher King – $1,579,200 ($35,647,561 total) {week 8}
12. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – $621,600 ($201,122,089 total) {week 19}

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 Nov. 7-9, 1986

Weekend Box Office:

1. Crocodile Dundee – $6,392,661 ($68,229,726 total) {week 7}
2. The Color of Money – $4,400,608 ($26,988,149 total) {week 4}
4. Peggy Sue Got Married – $3,285,983 ($25,827,215 total) {week 5}
7. Children of a Lesser God – $1,581,397 ($13,916,872 total) {week 6}
10. Stand By Me – $1,444,875 ($40,461,269 total) {week 14}
11. Top Gun – $1,258,282 ($162,052,991 total) {week 26}
12. Blue Velvet – $296,631 ($5,527,521 total) {week 8}
13. The Mission – $44,049 ($116,619 total) {week 2}

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