Oscar in Box Office History (Week 19, 2016)

Every week, we’ll take a look back in 5-year intervals at the box office past to explore how Oscar’s nominees were doing at the box office each weekend historically. All data is collected from Box Office Mojo. The first section under each year is the positioning of all Oscar nominees during that weekend at the box office (as well as a section looking at the inflation-adjusted numbers). The third 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 shots at this stage of the game. If you have any suggestions for more data you’d like to see, please let us know.

This Year: Potential Oscar Nominees Releasing This Weekend

Captain America: Civil War (Wide)

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

Dheepan (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Foreign Language Film.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 13-15, 2011

Weekend Box Office:

Bridesmaids – $26,247,410 ($26,247,410 total) {week 1}
Rio – $8,275,058 ($125,243,198 total) {week 5}
Jane Eyre – $337,419 ($9,971,497 total) {week 10}
Rango – $258,083 ($120,760,017 total) {week 11}
Incendies – $134,910 ($380,450 total) {week 4}
In a Better World – $65,331 ($617,315 total) {week 7}
Biutiful – $8,220 ($5,085,424 total) {week 16}
Tangled – $6,351 ($199,714,630 total) {week 25}
Barney’s Version – $2,801 ($4,407,301 total) {week 18}
Another Year – $1,922 ($3,203,725 total) {week 20}
The Illusionist – $1,230 ($2,231,024 total) {week 20}

Weekend Box Office (Adjusted for Inflation):

Bridesmaids – $27,041,783 ($27,041,783 total)
Rio – $8,525,501 ($129,033,660 total)
Jane Eyre – $347,631 ($10,273,283 total)
Rango – $265,894 ($124,414,797 total)
Incendies – $138,993 ($391,964 total)
In a Better World – $67,308 ($635,998 total)
Biutiful – $8,469 ($5,239,333 total)
Tangled – $6,543 ($205,758,957 total)
Barney’s Version – $2,886 ($4,540,687 total)
Another Year – $1,980 ($3,300,685 total)
The Illusionist – $1,267 ($2,298,546 total)

Oscar Details:

Another Year: Original Screenplay
Barney’s Version: Makeup
Biutiful: Actor (Javier Bardem), Foreign Language Film
Bridesmaids: Supporting Actress (Melissa McCarthy), Original Screenplay
The Illusionist: Animated Feature
In a Better World: Foreign Language Film [O]
Incendies: Foreign Language Film
Jane Eyre: Costume Design
Rango: Animated Feature [O]
Rio: Original Song (“Real in Rio”)
Tangled: Original Song (“I See the Light”)

10 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 12-14, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

Poseidon – $22,155,410 ($22,155,410 total) {week 1}
United 93 – $3,508,125 ($25,555,100 total) {week 3}
Water – $267,731 ($604,325 total) {week 3}
Tsotsi – $31,791 ($2,814,714 total) {week 12}
Mrs. Henderson Presents – $29,201 ($11,005,376 total) {week 23}
Transamerica – $27,457 ($8,971,992 total) {week 24}
Sophie Scholl – $15,022 ($556,222 total) {week 13}
Joyeux Noel – $11,368 ($982,767 total) {week 22}
Darwin’s Nightmare – $376 ($199,575 total) {week 41}

Weekend Box Office (Adjusted for Inflation):

Poseidon – $27,635,069 ($27,635,069 total)
United 93 – $4,375,783 ($31,875,598 total)
Water – $333,948 ($753,792 total)
Tsotsi – $39,654 ($3,510,872 total)
Mrs. Henderson Presents – $36,423 ($13,727,316 total)
Transamerica – $34,248 ($11,191,019 total)
Sophie Scholl – $18,737 ($693,791 total)
Joyeux Noel – $14,180 ($1,225,833 total)
Darwin’s Nightmare – $469 ($248,936 total)

Oscar Details:

Darwin’s Nightmare: Documentary Feature
Joyeux Noel: Foreign Language Film
Mrs. Henderson Presents: Actress (Judi Dench), Costume Design
Poseidon: Visual Effects
Sophie Scholl: Foreign Language Film
Transamerica: Actress (Felicity Huffman), Original Song (“Travelin’ Thru”)
Tsotsi: Foreign Language Film [O]
United 93: Directing, Film Editing
Water: Foreign Language Film

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 11-13, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

Bridget Jones’ Diary – $4,458,144 ($50,984,229 total) {week 5}
Memento – $1,220,581 ($10,381,962 total) {week 9}
Chocolat – $750,548 ($69,934,220 total) {week 22}
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – $481,194 ($125,460,041 total) {week 23}
Traffic – $407,950 ($122,558,754 total) {week 20}
O Brother, Where Art Thou? – $312,291 ($43,024,625 total) {week 21}
Amores Perros – $295,012 ($3,939,989 total) {week 7}
Cast Away – $186,328 ($232,636,184 total) {week 21}
Pollock – $72,553 ($8,233,928 total) {week 22}
The Emperor’s New Groove – $63,639 ($89,167,551 total) {week 22}
You Can Count on Me – $55,571 ($9,359,534 total) {week 27}

Weekend Box Office (Adjusted for Inflation):

Bridget Jones’ Diary – $6,435,165 ($73,593,843 total)
Memento – $1,761,863 ($14,985,977 total)
Chocolat – $1,083,388 ($100,947,452 total)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – $694,586 ($181,096,914 total)
Traffic – $588,861 ($176,909,014 total)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? – $450,780 ($62,104,450 total)
Amores Perros – $425,839 ($5,687,228 total)
Cast Away – $268,958 ($335,801,700 total)
Pollock – $104,728 ($11,885,370 total)
The Emperor’s New Groove – $91,861 ($128,710,052 total)
You Can Count on Me – $80,215 ($13,510,140 total)

Oscar Details:

Amores Perros: Foreign Language Film
Bridget Jones’ Diary: Actress (Renee Zellweger)
Cast Away: Actor (Tom Hanks), Sound
Chocolat: Picture, Actress (Juliette Binoche), Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Picture, Directing, Adapted Screenplay, Original Song (“A Love Before Time”), Original Score [O], Editing, Cinematography [O], Art Direction [O], Costume Design, Foreign Language Film [O]
The Emperor’s New Groove: Original Song (“My Funny Friend and Me”)
Memento: Original Screenplay, Film Editing
O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Cinematography
Pollock: Actor (Ed Harris), Supporting Actress (Marcia Gay Harden) [O]
Traffic: Picture, Directing [O], Supporting Actor (Benicio Del Toro) [O], Adapted Screenplay [O], Editing [O]
You Can Count on Me: Actress (Laura Linney), Original Screenplay

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 10-12, 1996

Weekend Box Office:

Twister – $41,059,405 ($41,059,405 total) {week 1}
Primal Fear – $2,406,324 ($48,394,665 total) {week 6}
The Birdcage – $1,606,421 ($115,271,678 total) {week 10}
James and the Giant Peach – $1,301,753 ($24,676,168 total) {week 5}
Braveheart – $7,516 ($75,599,869 total) {week 51}

Weekend Box Office (Adjusted for Inflation):

Twister – $75,894,873 ($75,894,873 total)
Primal Fear – $4,447,888 ($89,453,487 total)
The Birdcage – $2,969,335 ($213,070,047 total)
James and the Giant Peach – $2,406,181 ($45,611,831 total)
Braveheart – $13,893 ($139,740,029 total)

Oscar Details:

The Birdcage: Art Direction
Braveheart: Picture [O], Directing [O], Original Screenplay, Original Dramatic Score, Editing, Cinematography [O], Costume Design, Makeup [O], Sound, Sound Effects Editing [O]
James and the Giant Peach: Original Musical or Comedy Score
Primal Fear: Supporting Actor (Edward Norton)
Twister: Sound, Visual Effects

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of May 10-12, 1991

Weekend Box Office:

The Silence of the Lambs – $1,964,271 ($115,093,023 total) {week 13}
Dances With Wolves – $1,436,476 ($167,476,026 total) {week 27}

Weekend Box Office (Adjusted for Inflation):

The Silence of the Lambs – $3,811,899 ($223,351,543 total)
Dances With Wolves – $2,787,651 ($325,006,920 total)

Oscar Details:

Dances With Wolves: Picture [O], Directing [O], Actor (Kevin Costner), Supporting Actor (Graham Greene), Supporting Actress (Mary McDonnell), Adapted Screenplay [O], Original Score [O], Editing [O], Cinematography [O], Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound [O]
The Silence of the Lambs: Picture [O], Directing [O], Actor (Anthony Hopkins) [O], Actress (Jodie Foster) [O], Adapted Screenplay [O], Film Editing, Sound