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

Happy Feet Two (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Animated Feature.

The Descendants (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Picture, Director, Actor (George Clooney), Supporting Actress (Shailene Woodley), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Editing, Cinematography.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 17-19, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

1. Happy Feet – $41,533,432 ($41,533,432 total) {week 1}
3. Borat – $14,602,874 ($90,757,366 total) {week 3}
8. Babel – $2,904,642 ($12,016,104 total) {week 4}
9. The Departed – $2,585,402 ($113,841,430 total) {week 7}
12. The Queen – $2,201,664 ($17,192,619 total) {week 8}
13. The Prestige – $1,949,969 ($49,363,657 total) {week 5}
16. Flags of Our Fathers – $819,575 ($32,670,358 total) {week 5}
22. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $317,347 ($422,543,393 total) {week 20}
23. Marie Antoinette – $303,051 ($15,563,082 total) {week 5}
29. Little Children – $164,534 ($1,467,068 total) {week 7}
32. Volver – $142,952 ($680,896 total) {week 3}
36. Little Miss Sunshine – $108,265 ($58,758,111 total) {week 17}
39. The Last King of Scotland – $99,505 ($3,258,925 total) {week 8}
40. The Illusionist – $78,559 ($39,210,709 total) {week 14}
52. The Devil Wears Prada – $25,933 ($124,703,638 total) {week 21}
60. Iraq in Fragments – $12,810 ($55,057 total) {week 2}
63. Deliver Us From Evil – $11,085 ($181,735 total) {week 6}
73. Half Nelson – $6,766 ($2,680,659 total) {week 15}

Oscar Details:

• Babel: Picture, Supporting Actress (Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi), Directing, Original Screenplay, Original Score [O], Editing
• Borat: Adapted Screenplay
• 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)
• Happy Feet: Animated Feature [O]
• The Illusionist: Cinematography
• Iraq in Fragments: Documentary Feature
• 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]
• 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
• Volver: Actress (Penelope Cruz)

10 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 16-18, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $90,294,621 ($90,294,621 total) {week 1}
2. Monsters, Inc. – $22,716,685 ($156,341,118 total) {week 3}
11. Amelie – $1,323,345 ($2,699,216 total) {week 3}
12. Training Day – $908,870 ($74,190,371 total) {week 7}
13. The Man Who Wasn’t There – $893,669 ($3,184,764 total) {week 3}
22. Mulholland Drive – $222,395 ($4,691,058 total) {week 6}
40. Shrek – $64,080 ($267,467,391 total) {week 27}
61. Ghost World – $18,950 ($6,050,125 total) {week 18}
62. Moulin Rouge! – $3,873 ($56,741,381 total) {week 27}

Oscar Details:

• Amelie: Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound, Foreign Language Film
• Ghost World: Adapted Screenplay
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Original Score, Art Direction, Costume Design
• The Man Who Wasn’t There: Cinematography
• Monsters, Inc.: Animated Feature, Original Song (If I Didn’t Have You [O]), Original Score, Sound Editing
• Moulin Rouge!: Picture, Actress (Nicole Kidman), Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction [O], Costume Design [O], Makeup, Sound
• Mulholland Drive: Director (David Lynch)
• Shrek: Animated Feature [O], Adapted Screenplay
• Training Day: Actor (Denzel Washington [O]), Supporting Actor (Ethan Hawke)

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 15-17, 1996

Weekend Box Office:

3. The Mirror Has Two Faces – $12,210,868 ($12,210,868 total) {week 1}
5. Romeo + Juliet – $5,421,137 ($31,434,358 total) {week 24}
7. First Wives Club – $1,511,844 ($99,400,000 total) {week 9}
9. The Ghost and the Darkness – $1,033,749 ($36,166,456 total) {week 6}
10. Michael Collins – $801,107 ($9,462,670 total) {week 6}
11. Independence Day – $745,473 ($304,738,610 total) {week 20}
12. The English Patient – $278,439 ($278,439 total) {week 1}
13. The Rock – $20,911 ($134,038,743 total) {week 24}

Oscar Details:

• The English Patient: Picture [O], Director [O], Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Actress (Kristin Scott Thomas), Supporting Actress (Juliette Binoche [O]), Adapted Screenplay, Original Dramatic Score [O], Editing [O], Cinematography [O], Art Direction [O], Costume Design [O], Sound [O]
• First Wives Club: Original Comedy or Musical Score
• The Ghost and the Darkness: Sound Effects Editing [O]
• Independence Day: Sound, Visual Effects [O]
• Michael Collins: Original Score, Cinematography
• The Mirror Has Two Faces: Supporting Actress (Lauren Bacall), Original Song (“I’ve Finally Found Someone”)
• The Rock: Sound
• Romeo + Juliet: Art Direction

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 15-17, 1991

Weekend Box Office:

1. Cape Fear – $10,261,025 ($10,261,025 total) {week 1}
12. The Fisher King – $1,092,832 ($37,254,897 total) {week 9}
13. Beauty and the Beast – $162,146 ($162,146 total) {week 1}

Oscar Details:

• Beauty and the Beast: Picture, Original Score [O], Original Song (“Be Our Guest”, “Beauty and the Beast” [O], “Belle”), Sound
• Cape Fear: Actor (Robert De Niro), Supporting Actress (Juliette Lewis)
• The Fisher King: Actor (Robin Williams), Supporting Actress (Mercedes Ruehl [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Art Direction

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 14-16, 1986

Weekend Box Office:

1. Crocodile Dundee – $5,521,551 ($76,016,041 total) {week 8}
2. The Color of Money – $3,107,994 ($31,459,355 total) {week 5}
4. Peggy Sue Got Married – $2,628,787 ($28,981,002 total) {week 6}
7. Children of a Lesser God – $1,331,594 ($15,828,763 total) {week 7}
8. Stand By Me – $1,316,136 ($42,328,513 total) {week 15}
10. Top Gun – $1,190,871 ($163,723,231 total) {week 27}
11. The Mission – $260,673 ($401,798 total) {week 3}
12. Blue Velvet – $252,793 ($5,930,189 total) {week 9}
13. Hoosiers – $220,068 ($220,068 total) {week 1}

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
• Hoosiers: Supporting Actor (Dennis Hopper), Original Score
• The Mission: Picture, Directing, Original Score, Editing, Cinematography [O], Art Direction, Costume Design
• 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