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

Dark Shadows (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Original Score, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 11-13, 2007

Weekend Box Office:

21. Away from Her – $318,277 ($491,602 total) {week 2}
28. The Lives of Others – $185,979 ($9,690,825 total) {week 14}
36. After the Wedding – $103,870 ($881,489 total) {week 7}
66. Pan’s Labyrinth – $18,360 ($37,541,055 total) {week 20}
81. The Queen – $7,477 ($56,437,947 total) {week 33}
103. The 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films – $2,366 ($33,296 total) {week 13}
105. The Last King of Scotland – $1,975 ($17,601,760 total) {week 33}
112. Notes on a Scandal – $1,108 ($17,506,860 total) {week 20}
118. Iraq in Fragments – $749 ($196,135 total) {week 27}
121. Volver – $552 ($12,899,039 total) {week 28}

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
• 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 10-12, 2002

Weekend Box Office:

1. Spider-Man – $71,417,527 ($223,040,031 total) {week 2}
2. Unfaithful – $14,065,277 ($14,118,338 total) {week 1}
8. Ice Age – $1,576,006 ($171,020,941 total) {week 9}
11. My Big Fat Greek Wedding – $1,262,562 ($4,112,413 total) {week 4}
16. Y Tu Mama Tambien – $615,059 ($9,328,400 total) {week 9}
19. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – $502,487 ($309,471,992 total) {week 21}
26. Monster’s Ball – $308,354 ($30,649,211 total) {week 20}
28. A Beautiful Mind – $268,515 ($170,240,036 total) {week 21}
34. The Time Machine – $117,814 ($56,566,172 total) {week 10}
40. Amelie – $80,518 ($32,806,020 total) {week 28}
50. Gosford Park – $54,176 ($41,102,012 total) {week 20}
53. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $48,679 ($317,503,512 total) {week 26}
59. Monsters, Inc. – $29,970 ($253,114,764 total) {week 28}
61. In the Bedroom – $28,041 ($35,918,429 total) {week 25}
63. Iris – $26,694 ($5,580,479 total) {week 22}

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
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Original Screenplay
• Spider-Man: Sound, Visual Effects
• The Time Machine: Makeup
• Unfaithful: Actress (Diane Lane)
• Y Tu Mama Tambien: Original Screenplay

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 9-11, 1997

There were no Oscar-nominated films in release during this weekend.

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 8-10, 1992

Weekend Box Office:

1. Basic Instinct – $4,012,920 ($89,148,498 total) {week 8}
4. The Player – $2,177,801 ($7,478,244 total) {week 5}
8. My Cousin Vinny – $1,354,199 ($44,457,217 total) {week 9}
999. Hook – $111,870 ($118,738,527 total) {week 22}
999. Howards End – $372,576 ($2,139,155 total) {week 9}

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 8-10, 1987

Weekend Box Office:

8. Platoon – $1,289,247 ($125,826,736 total) {week 21}

Oscar Details:

• Platoon: Picture [O], Director [O], Supporting Actor (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe), Original Screenplay, Editing [O], Cinematography, Sound [O]

30 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 7-9, 1982

Weekend Box Office:

4. Chariots of Fire – $1,751,755 ($47,069,237 total) {week 33}
5. Victor/Victoria – $1,369,148 ($14,231,463 total) {week 8}
8. On Golden Pond – $1,114,026 ($101,830,453 total) {week 23}
10. Quest for Fire – $590,751 ($19,425,528 total) {week 13}

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