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 Apr. 20-22, 2007

Weekend Box Office:

24. The Lives of Others – $311,055 ($8,632,096 total) {week 11}
28. Norbit – $201,685 ($95,102,566 total) {week 11}
36. After the Wedding – $113,181 ($412,544 total) {week 4}
47. Pan’s Labyrinth – $48,777 ($37,384,484 total) {week 17}
51. Happy Feet – $38,659 ($197,918,727 total) {week 23}
57. The Queen – $27,646 ($56,368,941 total) {week 30}
60. The Last King of Scotland – $23,770 ($17,553,713 total) {week 30}
82. Notes on a Scandal – $6,280 ($17,487,613 total) {week 17}
86. Letters from Iwo Jima – $5,253 ($13,753,931 total) {week 18}
87. Iraq in Fragments – $4,585 ($184,750 total) {week 24}
93. Volver – $3,683 ($12,895,617 total) {week 25}
98. Days of Glory – $3,312 ($317,594 total) {week 20}
103. The 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films – $2,005 ($327,054 total) {week 10}

Oscar Details:

• The 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films: Animated Short Film; Live Action Short Film
• After the Wedding: Foreign Language Film
• Days of Glory: Foreign Language Film
• Happy Feet: Animated Feature [O]
• Iraq in Fragments: Documentary Feature
• The Last King of Scotland: Actor (Forest Whitaker [O])
• Letters from Iwo Jima: Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Sound Editing [O]
• The Lives of Others: Foreign Language Film
• Norbit: Makeup
• 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 Queen: Picture, Director, Actress (Helen Mirren [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Costume Design
• Volver: Actress (Penelope Cruz)

10 Years Ago: The Weekend of Apr. 19-21, 2002

Weekend Box Office:

6. Ice Age – $5,903,510 ($159,626,661 total) {week 6}
13. Y Tu Mama Tambien – $1,000,261 ($5,838,402 total) {week 6}
15. A Beautiful Mind – $854,170 ($168,418,991 total) {week 18}
16. Monster’s Ball – $793,121 ($28,131,294 total) {week 17}
17. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – $771,711 ($306,999,514 total) {week 18}
20. My Big Fat Greek Wedding – $597,362 ($597,362 total) {week 1}
28. Amelie – $208,176 ($32,325,660 total) {week 25}
33. Gosford Park – $159,395 ($40,713,590 total) {week 17}
35. The Time Machine – $153,152 ($55,761,738 total) {week 7}
38. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $127,159 ($317,220,661 total) {week 23}
40. Iris – $117,011 ($5,372,026 total) {week 19}
49. In the Bedroom – $55,219 ($35,733,119 total) {week 22}
61. Monsters, Inc. – $37,181 ($253,022,487 total) {week 25}
70. No Man’s Land – $11,186 ($1,012,153 total) {week 20}
999. Mulholland Drive – $4,305 ($7,212,548 total) {week 28}

Oscar Details:

• 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
• 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
• Ice Age: Animated Feature
• 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)
• 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]
• Monster’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
• Mulholland Drive: Director
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Original Screenplay
• No Man’s Land: Foreign Language Film [O]
• The Time Machine: Makeup
• Y Tu Mama Tambien: Original Screenplay

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of Apr. 18-20, 1997

Weekend Box Office:

15. Jerry Maguire – $614,347 ($149,089,725 total) {week 19}
999. Evita – $105,494 ($49,888,364 total) {week 17}

Oscar Details:

• Evita: Original Song (“You Must Love Me”) [O], Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound
• Jerry Maguire: Picture, Actor (Tom Cruise), Supporting Actor (Cuba Gooding Jr.) [O], Original Screenplay, Film Editing

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Apr. 17-19, 1992

Weekend Box Office:

1. Basic Instinct – $6,653,950 ($70,005,019 total) {week 5}
11. My Cousin Vinny – $2,241,086 ($38,298,788 total) {week 6}
999. Hook – $418,080 ($117,806,250 total) {week 19}
999. Howards End – $270,635 ($703,798 total) {week 6}
999. The Player – $277,096 ($750,124 total) {week 2}

Oscar Details:

• Basic Instinct: Original Score, Editing
• Hook: Original Song (“When You’re Alone”), Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Visual Effects
• Howards End: Picture, Director, Actress (Emma Thompson) [O], Supporting Actress (Vanessa Redgrave), Adapted Screenplay [O], Original Score, Cinematography, Art Direction [O], Costume Design
• My Cousin Vinny: Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei) [O]
• The Player: Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of Apr. 17-19, 1987

Weekend Box Office:

7. Platoon – $2,582,868 ($118,440,507 total) {week 18}
10. Crocodile Dundee – $1,069,852 (unknown total) {week 29}
12. Hoosiers – $785,187 ($24,948,109 total) {week 19}

Oscar Details:

• Crocodile Dundee: Original Screenplay
• Hoosiers: Supporting Actor (Dennis Hopper), Original Score
• Platoon: Picture [O], Director [O], Supporting Actor (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe), Original Screenplay, Editing [O], Cinematography, Sound [O]

30 Years Ago: The Weekend of Apr. 16-18, 1982

Weekend Box Office:

3. Chariots of Fire – $2,811,351 ($39,145,193 total) {week 30}
4. Victor/Victoria – $1,954,806 ($8,460,818 total) {week 5}
5. On Golden Pond – $1,927,433 ($93,814,317 total) {week 20}
8. Quest for Fire – $1,146,686 ($16,143,368 total) {week 10}

Oscar Details:

• 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
• Quest for Fire: Makeup [O]
• Victor/Victoria: Actress (Julie Andrews), Supporting Actor (Robert Preston), Supporting Actress (Lesley Ann Warren), Adapted Screenplay, Original Song Score [O], Art Direction, Costume Design