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

The Avengers (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Actress (Maggie Smith), Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Supporting Actor (Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson).

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 4-6, 2007

Weekend Box Office:

23. The Lives of Others – $222,413 ($9,417,886 total) {week 13}
32. Away from Her – $114,628 ($114,628 total) {week 1}
33. After the Wedding – $111,995 ($734,081 total) {week 6}
54. Pan’s Labyrinth – $26,730 ($37,508,710 total) {week 19}
59. Happy Feet – $21,412 ($197,992,827 total) {week 25}
68. The Queen – $13,176 ($56,425,113 total) {week 32}
74. The Last King of Scotland – $9,966 ($17,594,783 total) {week 32}
89. Notes on a Scandal – $3,850 ($17,504,148 total) {week 19}
112. Iraq in Fragments – $1,073 ($194,042 total) {week 26}
116. The 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films – $905 ($330,634 total) {week 12}
127. Volver – $363 ($12,897,993 total) {week 27}

Oscar Details:

• The 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films: Animated Short Film; Live Action Short Film
• After the Wedding: Foreign Language Film
• Away from Her: Actress (Julie Christie), Adapted Screenplay
• Happy Feet: Animated Feature [O]
• Iraq in Fragments: Documentary Feature
• The Last King of Scotland: Actor (Forest Whitaker [O])
• The Lives of Others: Foreign Language Film
• 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 May 3-5, 2002

Weekend Box Office:

1. Spider-Man – $114,844,116 ($114,844,116 total) {week 1}
8. Ice Age – $2,369,504 ($169,030,520 total) {week 8}
14. Y Tu Mama Tambien – $759,613 ($8,397,488 total) {week 8}
16. My Big Fat Greek Wedding – $666,304 ($2,567,045 total) {week 3}
22. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – $452,061 ($308,791,984 total) {week 20}
24. Monster’s Ball – $393,099 ($30,079,249 total) {week 19}
26. A Beautiful Mind – $303,705 ($169,852,636 total) {week 20}
28. The Time Machine – $216,395 ($56,378,623 total) {week 9}
39. Amelie – $92,802 ($32,680,816 total) {week 27}
49. Gosford Park – $61,092 ($41,023,207 total) {week 19}
50. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $60,800 ($317,433,952 total) {week 25}
56. In the Bedroom – $31,954 ($35,873,974 total) {week 24}
61. Iris – $23,364 ($5,532,721 total) {week 21}
69. Monsters, Inc. – $15,426 ($253,075,916 total) {week 27}
75. Mulholland Drive – $1,677 ($7,219,735 total) {week 30}

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
• Spider-Man: Sound, Visual Effects
• The Time Machine: Makeup
• Y Tu Mama Tambien: Original Screenplay

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 2-4, 1997

Weekend Box Office:

999. Evita – $21,602 ($50,038,461 total) {week 19}
999. Jerry Maguire – $562,809 ($150,429,185 total) {week 21}

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 May 1-3, 1992

Weekend Box Office:

1. Basic Instinct – $4,042,740 ($83,605,244 total) {week 7}
6. The Player – $1,716,586 ($4,664,815 total) {week 4}
14. My Cousin Vinny – $1,156,248 ($42,702,885 total) {week 8}
999. Hook – $183,093 ($118,579,323 total) {week 21}
999. Howards End – $291,530 ($1,634,019 total) {week 8}

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 May 1-3, 1987

Weekend Box Office:

7. Platoon – $1,577,689 ($123,871,390 total) {week 20}
999. My Life As a Dog – $11,667 ($11,667 total) {week 1}

Oscar Details:

• My Life As a Dog: Director, Adapted Screenplay
• 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. 30-May 2, 1982

Weekend Box Office:

5. Chariots of Fire – $1,668,771 ($44,674,859 total) {week 32}
6. On Golden Pond – $1,554,184 ($100,254,343 total) {week 22}
7. Victor/Victoria – $1,380,000 ($12,705,568 total) {week 7}
11. Quest for Fire – $636,244 ($18,569,158 total) {week 12}

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