Every week, we’ll take a look back 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 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

None

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Jan. 12-14, 2007

Weekend Box Office:

3. The Pursuit of Happyness – $8,901,206 ($136,280,156 total) {week 5}
4. Dreamgirls – $8,362,451 ($65,203,618 total) {week 5}
7. Children of Men – $6,371,335 ($21,337,603 total) {week 3}
11. The Good Shepherd – $3,708,000 ($54,066,110 total) {week 4}
14. Blood Diamond – $2,462,117 ($47,786,352 total) {week 6}
16. Pan’s Labyrinth – $2,169,002 ($4,391,303 total) {week 3}
18. Happy Feet – $2,023,238 ($188,209,088 total) {week 9}
19. The Curse of the Golden Flower – $1,872,862 ($4,221,658 total) {week 4}
22. Notes on a Scandal – $1,618,044 ($4,109,634 total) {week 3}
24. The Queen – $1,111,909 ($31,522,356 total) {week 16}
26. Apocalypto – $849,666 ($48,873,271 total) {week 6}
28. Volver – $512,649 ($6,718,079 total) {week 11}
29. Babel – $380,869 ($21,308,081 total) {week 12}
30. Letters from Iwo Jima – $366,242 ($875,203 total) {week 4}
35. Little Children – $288,122 ($3,437,972 total) {week 15}
36. Borat – $272,720 ($127,011,091 total) {week 11}
37. The Departed – $254,785 ($121,292,075 total) {week 15}
41. The Prestige – $80,730 ($52,919,363 total) {week 13}
43. The Good German – $71,974 ($746,647 total) {week 5}
49. Venus – $30,238 ($210,951 total) {week 4}
55. The Last King of Scotland – $16,926 ($3,702,357 total) {week 16}
56. Little Miss Sunshine – $16,502 ($59,576,004 total) {week 25}
60. The Illusionist – $12,646 ($39,838,444 total) {week 22}
81. Jesus Camp – $1,412 ($882,203 total) {week 18}
91. Iraq in Fragments – $479 ($70,014 total) {week 8}

Oscar Details:

• Apocalypto: Makeup, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
• Babel: Picture, Supporting Actress (Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi), Director, Original Screenplay, Original Score [O], Editing
• Blood Diamond: Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Supporting Actor (Djimon Hounsou), Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
• Borat: Adapted Screenplay
• Children of Men: Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography
• The Curse of the Golden Flower: Costume Design
• The Departed: Picture [O], Director [O], Supporting Actor (Mark Wahlberg), Adapted Screenplay [O], Editing
• Dreamgirls: Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy), Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson) [O], Original Song (“Listen”, “Love You I Do”, “Patience”), Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound [O]
• The Good German: Original Score
• The Good Shepherd: Art Direction
• Happy Feet: Animated Feature [O]
• The Illusionist: Cinematography
• Iraq in Fragments: Documentary Feature
• Jesus Camp: Documentary Feature
• The Last King of Scotland: Actor (Forest Whitaker [O])
• Letters from Iwo Jima: Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Sound Editing [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]
• Notes on a Scandal: Actress (Judi Dench), Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score
• Pan’s Labyrinth: Original Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography [O], Art Direction [O], Makeup [O], Foreign Language Film
• The Prestige: Cinematography, Art Direction
• The Pursuit of Happyness: Actor (Will Smith)
• The Queen: Picture, Director, Actress (Helen Mirren [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Costume Design
• Venus: Actor (Peter O’Toole)
• Volver: Actress (Penelope Cruz)

10 Years Ago: The Weekend of Jan. 11-13, 2002

Weekend Box Office:

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – $16,201,260 ($228,320,875 total) {week 4}
2. A Beautiful Mind – $15,220,705 ($58,420,716 total) {week 4}
6. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius – $5,523,825 ($69,084,552 total) {week 4}
9. Gosford Park – $3,684,621 ($6,641,077 total) {week 3}
10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $3,674,325 ($305,311,880 total) {week 9}
11. Ali – $3,333,187 ($54,543,984 total) {week 3}
12. In the Bedroom – $2,853,430 ($7,880,692 total) {week 8}
13. Monsters, Inc. – $2,195,669 ($247,458,486 total) {week 11}
20. Amelie – $1,092,268 ($19,276,470 total) {week 11}
23. Black Hawn Down – $748,459 ($1,473,884 total) {week 3}
29. Mulholland Drive – $156,835 ($6,014,253 total) {week 14}
30. Monser’s Ball – $129,951 ($579,320 total) {week 3}
32. The Man Who Wasn’t There – $93,779 ($7,106,463 total) {week 11}
44. No Man’s Land – $30,775 ($344,265 total) {week 6}
46. Iris – $28,750 ($118,107 total) {week 4}
50. I Am Sam – $21,791 ($145,076 total) {week 3}
52. Ghost World – $19,178 ($6,154,196 total) {week 21}
54. Moulin Rouge! – $15,194 ($57,087,272 total) {week 35}

Oscar Details:

• Ali: Actor (Will Smith), Supporting Actor (Jon Voight)
• Amelie: Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound, Foreign Language Film
• A Beautiful Mind: Picture [O], Director [O], Actor (Russell Crowe), Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly) [O], Adapted Screenplay [O], Original Score, Editing, Makeup
• Black Hawn Down: Director, Editing [O], Cinematography, Sound [O]
• Ghost World: Adapted Screenplay
• Gosford Park: Picture, Director, Supporting Actress (Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith), Original Screenplay [O], Art Direction, Costume Design
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Original Score, Art Direction, Costume Design
• I Am Sam: Actor (Sean Penn)
• In the Bedroom: Picture, Actor (Tom Wilkinson), Actress (Sissy Spacek), Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei), Adapted Screenplay
• Iris: Actress (Judi Dench), Supporting Actor (Jim Broadbent) [O], Supporting Actress (Kate Winslet)
• Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: Animated Feature
• The Man Who Wasn’t There: Cinematography
• Monser’s Ball: Actress (Halle Berry) [O], Original Screenplay
• 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
• No Man’s Land: Foreign Language Film
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Ian McKellen), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score [O], Original Song (“May It Be”), Editing, Cinematography [O], Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup [O], Sound, Visual Effects [O]

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of Jan. 10-12, 1997

Weekend Box Office:

2. Evita – $8,381,055 ($11,234,712 total) {week 3}
5. Jerry Maguire – $7,011,880 ($93,318,786 total) {week 5}
7. The People vs. Larry Flynt – $5,315,079 ($7,385,929 total) {week 3}
9. One Fine Day – $3,449,369 ($37,308,701 total) {week 4}
12. Ghosts of Mississippi – $2,302,519 ($9,383,044 total) {week 4}
14. The English Patient – $2,023,234 ($31,002,021 total) {week 9}
17. Shine – $1,119,091 ($8,382,966 total) {week 7}
21. The Crucible – $718,801 ($5,816,620 total) {week 7}
999. Independence Day – $24 ($306,169,255 total) {week 28}

Oscar Details:

• The Crucible: Supporting Actress (Joan Allen), Adapted Screenplay
• The English Patient: Picture [O], Director [O], Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Actress (Kristin Scott Thomas), Supporting Actress (Juliette Binoche [O]), Adapted Screenplay, Original Dramatic Score [O], Editing [O], Cinematography [O], Art Direction [O], Costume Design [O], Sound [O]
• Evita: Original Song (“You Must Love Me”) [O], Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound
• Ghosts of Mississippi: Supporting Actor (James Woods), Makeup
• Independence Day: Sound, Visual Effects [O]
• Jerry Maguire: Picture, Actor (Tom Cruise), Supporting Actor (Cuba Gooding Jr.) [O], Original Screenplay, Film Editing
• One Fine Day: Original Song (“For the First Time”)
• The People vs. Larry Flynt: Director, Actor (Woody Harrelson)
• Shine: Picture, Director, Actor (Geoffrey Rush) [O], Supporting Actor (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Original Screenplay, Original Dramatic Score, Editing

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Jan. 10-12, 1992

Weekend Box Office:

2. Hook – $6,423,900 ($90,746,145 total) {week 5}
3. The Prince of Tides – $6,033,617 ($40,055,779 total) {week 3}
6. Beauty and the Beast – $4,840,087 ($88,917,830 total) {week 9}
7. JFK – $4,722,417 ($37,987,458 total) {week 4}
9. Grand Canyon – $3,410,127 ($3,733,208 total) {week 3}
10. Bugsy – $3,181,365 ($30,187,827 total) {week 5}
11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – $2,812,455 ($64,690,283 total) {week 6}
12. The Addams Family – $2,491,635 ($101,770,958 total) {week 8}
13. Cape Fear – $2,039,070 ($68,813,892 total) {week 9}
16. Fried Green Tomatoes – $561,395 ($1,140,591 total) {week 3}

Oscar Details:

• The Addams Family: Costume Design
• Beauty and the Beast: Picture, Original Score [O], Original Song (“Be Our Guest”, “Beauty and the Beast” [O], “Belle”), Sound
• Bugsy: Picture, Director, Actor (Warren Beatty), Supporting Actor (Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography, Art Direction [O], Costume Design [O]
• Cape Fear: Actor (Robert De Niro), Supporting Actress (Juliette Lewis)
• Fried Green Tomatoes: Supporting Actress (Jessica Tandy), Adapted Screenplay
• Grand Canyon: Original Screenplay
• Hook: Original Song (“When You’re Alone”), Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Visual Effects
• JFK: Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Editing [O], Cinematography [O], Sound
• The Prince of Tides: Picture, Actor (Nick Nolte), Supporting Actress (Kate Nelligan), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography, Art Direction
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: Original Score, Cinematography, Sound, Sound Effects Editing

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of Jan. 9-11, 1987

Weekend Box Office:

2. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – $4,103,821 ($87,231,310 total) {week 8}
3. Crocodile Dundee – $3,258,312 ($127,546,612 total) {week 16}
8. Heartbreak Ridge – $2,077,325 ($38,114,334 total) {week 6}
11. Platoon – $1,668,713 ($6,377,668 total) {week 4}
14. An American Tail – $1,167,882 ($38,661,348 total) {week 8}

Oscar Details:

• An American Tail: Original Song (“Somewhere Out There”)
• Crocodile Dundee: Original Screenplay
• Heartbreak Ridge: Sound
• Platoon: Picture [O], Director [O], Supporting Actor (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe), Original Screenplay, Editing [O], Cinematography, Sound [O]
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: Original Score, Cinematography, Sound, Sound Effects Editing

30 Years Ago: The Weekend of Jan. 15-17, 1982

Weekend Box Office:

1. Absence of Malice – $3,290,111 ($23,341,516 total) {week 9}
4. Reds – $2,181,946 ($23,760,547 total) {week 5}
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark – $1,629,191 ($181,718,672 total) {week 6}
7. Ragtime – $1,403,534 ($12,631,335 total) {week 5}
12. Arthur – $586,812 ($80,803,852 total) {week 3}
14. Pennies from Heaven – $520,000 ($6,200,000 total) {week 6}
15. Chariots of Fire – $359,516 ($4,837,000 total) {week 6}
17. On Golden Pond – $98,793 ($1,156,889 total) {week 7}

Oscar Details:

• Absence of Malice: Actor (Paul Newman), Supporting Actress (Melinda Dillon), Original Screenplay
• Arthur: Actor (Dudley Moore), Supporting Actor (John Gielgud) [O], Original Screenplay, Original Song (“Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)”) [O]
• Chariots of Fire: Picture [O], Director, Supporting Actor (Ian Holm), Original Screenplay [O], Original Score [O], Editing, Costume Design [O]
• On Golden Pond: Picture, Director, Actor (Henry Fonda) [O], Actress (Katharine Hepburn) [O], Supporting Actress (Jane Fonda), Adapted Screenplay [O], Original Score, Editing, Cinematography, Sound
• Pennies from Heaven: Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, Sound
• Ragtime: Supporting Actor (Howard E Rollins Jr), Supporting Actress (Elizabeth McGovern), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Original Song (“One More Hour”), Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design
• Raiders of the Lost Ark: Picture, Director, Original Score, Editing [O], Cinematography, Art Direction [O], Sound [O], Sound Effects Editing [O], Visual Effects [O]
• Reds: Picture, Director [O], Actor (Warren Beatty), Actress (Diane Keaton), Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton) [O], Original Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography [O], Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound