Every week, we’ll take a look back 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 (starting in January) 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 Three Musketeers (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Art Direction, Costume Design.

Martha Marcy May Marlene (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Picture, Actress (Elizabeth Olsen), Original Screenplay.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Oct. 20-22, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

1. The Prestige – $14,801,808 ($14,801,808 total) {week 1}
2. The Departed – $13,462,256 ($76,935,185 total) {week 3}
3. Flags of Our Fathers – $10,245,190 ($10,245,190 total) {week 1}
8. Marie Antoinette – $5,361,050 ($5,361,050 total) {week 1}
16. The Queen – $1,510,081 ($3,768,588 total) {week 4}
19. The Illusionist – $754,633 ($37,466,817 total) {week 10}
20. Little Miss Sunshine – $541,716 ($57,209,137 total) {week 13}
21. The Last King of Scotland – $431,610 ($1,924,774 total) {week 4}
27. Little Children – $238,390 ($508,772 total) {week 3}
32. Monster House – $202,477 ($73,661,010 total) {week 14}
34. Superman Returns – $173,300 ($200,006,305 total) {week 17}
39. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $119,883 ($421,243,455 total) {week 16}
43. The Devil Wears Prada – $81,129 ($124,450,077 total) {week 17}
51. Half Nelson – $48,666 ($2,591,047 total) {week 11}
52. The Black Dahlia – $46,520 ($22,518,325 total) {week 6}
74. An Inconvenient Truth – $10,294 ($23,793,821 total) {week 22}
77. Deliver Us From Evil – $9,257 ($32,636 total) {week 2}

Oscar Details:

• The Black Dahlia: Cinematography
• Deliver Us From Evil: Documentary Feature
• The Departed: Picture [O], Director [O], Supporting Actor (Mark Wahlberg), Adapted Screenplay [O], Editing
• The Devil Wears Prada: Actress (Meryl Streep), Costume Design
• Flags of Our Fathers: Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
• Half Nelson: Actor (Ryan Gosling)
• The Illusionist: Cinematography
• An Inconvenient Truth: Original Song (“I Need to Wake Up” [O]), Documentary Feature [O]
• The Last King of Scotland: Actor (Forest Whitaker [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]
• Marie Antoinette: Costume Design [O]
• Monster House: Animated Feature
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: Art Direction, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects [O]
• The Prestige: Cinematography, Art Direction
• The Queen: Picture, Directing, Actress (Helen Mirren [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Costume Design
• Superman Returns: Visual Effects

10 Years Ago: The Weekend of Oct. 19-21, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

3. Training Day – $9,325,443 ($57,283,521 total) {week 3}
15. Mulholland Drive – $960,558 ($1,859,343 total) {week 2}
20. Shrek – $271,870 ($266,636,479 total) {week 23}
34. Ghost World – $111,652 ($5,792,350 total) {week 14}
35. Pearl Harbor – $106,723 ($198,245,981 total) {week 22}
36. Moulin Rouge! – $15,009 ($56,689,748 total) {week 23}

Oscar Details:

• Ghost World: Adapted Screenplay
• Moulin Rouge!: Picture, Actress (Nicole Kidman), Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction [O], Costume Design [O], Makeup, Sound
• Mulholland Drive: Director (David Lynch)
• Pearl Harbor: Original Song (“There You’ll Be”), Sound, Sound Editing [O], Visual Effects
• Shrek: Animated Feature [O], Adapted Screenplay
• Training Day: Actor (Denzel Washington [O]), Supporting Actor (Ethan Hawke)

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of Oct. 18-20, 1996

2. The Ghost and the Darkness – $7,507,928 ($20,241,321 total) {week 2}
5. That Thing You Do! – $3,866,648 ($17,754,851 total) {week 2}
10. Fly Away Home – $1,407,425 ($19,758,779 total) {week 6}
11. Independence Day – $1,344,607 ($299,213,307 total) {week 16}
12. Michael Collins – $187,692 ($460,992 total) {week 2}
13. The Rock – $133,536 ($133,768,962 total) {week 20}

Oscar Details:

• Fly Away Home: Cinematography
• The Ghost and the Darkness: Sound Effects Editing [O]
• Independence Day: Sound, Visual Effects [O]
• Michael Collins: Original Score, Cinematography
• The Rock: Sound
• That Thing You Do!: Original Song (“That Thing You Do”)

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Oct. 18-20, 1991

3. The Fisher King – $338,118 ($27,372,072 total) {week 5}
12. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – $964,175 ($163,012,523 total) {week 19}
13. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – $566,489 ($198,849,143 total) {week 16}

Oscar Details:

• The Fisher King: Actor (Robin Williams), Supporting Actress (Mercedes Ruehl [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Art Direction
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: Original Song (“(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”)
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day: Editing, Cinematography, Makeup [O], Sound [O], Sound Effects Editing [O], Visual Effects [O]

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of Oct. 17-19, 1986

1. Crocodile Dundee – $7,434,202 ($42,667,910 total) {week 4}
2. The Color of Money – $6,357,877 ($6,357,877 total) {week 1}
4. Peggy Sue Got Married – $4,209,201 ($12,309,278 total) {week 2}
6. Children of a Lesser God – $2,038,900 ($6,991,691 total) {week 3}
7. Top Gun – $1,874,879 ($156,548,833 total) {week 23}
9. Stand By Me – $1,392,995 ($35,359,341 total) {week 11}
11. The Karate Kid Part II – $654,008 ($111,476,372 total) {week 18}
12. Blue Velvet – $386,542 ($3,986,512 total) {week 5}

Oscar Details:

• Blue Velvet: Director (David Lynch)
• Children of a Lesser God: Picture, Actor (William Hurt), Actress (Marlee Matlin [O]), Supporting Actress (Piper Laurie), Adapted Screenplay
• The Color of Money: Actor (Paul Newman [O]), Supporting Actress (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction
• Crocodile Dundee: Original Screenplay
• The Karate Kid Part II: Original Song (“Glory of Love”)
• Peggy Sue Got Married: Actress (Kathleen Turner), Cinematography, Costume Design
• Stand By Me: Adapted Screenplay
• Top Gun: Original Song (“Take My Breath Away” [O]), Editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing