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

Arthur Christmas (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Animated Feature.

Hugo (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects.

The Muppets (Wide)

Oscar Potential: Original Song.

The Artist (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Picture, Director, Actor (Jean Dujardin), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup.

A Dangerous Method (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Actor (Michael Fassbender), Actress (Keira Knightley), Supporting Actor (Viggo Mortensen), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Costume Design.

My Week with Marilyn (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Actress (Michelle Williams), Supporting Actor (Kenneth Branagh), Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup.

Rampart (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Actor (Woody Harrelson).

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 24-26, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

1. Happy Feet – $37,038,046 ($99,256,766 total) {week 2}
5. Borat – $10,304,802 ($109,136,807 total) {week 4}
12. The Queen – $2,587,471 ($20,970,016 total) {week 9}
13. Babel – $1,968,883 ($15,194,482 total) {week 5}
15. The Departed – $1,709,135 ($116,748,722 total) {week 8}
19. The Prestige – $861,024 ($51,099,913 total) {week 6}
20. Volver – $512,127 ($1,331,883 total) {week 4}
21. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $312,122 ($423,032,628 total) {week 21}
22. Flags of Our Fathers – $309,265 ($33,306,143 total) {week 6}
32. Marie Antoinette – $154,724 ($15,845,821 total) {week 6}
33. The Illusionist – $143,742 ($39,401,642 total) {week 15}
34. Little Children – $141,586 ($1,679,924 total) {week 8}
37. Little Miss Sunshine – $123,940 ($58,938,608 total) {week 18}
46. The Last King of Scotland – $70,092 ($3,368,128 total) {week 9}
66. The Devil Wears Prada – $9,254 ($124,721,367 total) {week 22}
74. Deliver Us From Evil – $6,363 ($196,585 total) {week 7}
91. Half Nelson – $2,434 ($2,684,452 total) {week 16}

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
• 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. 23-25, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $57,487,755 ($186,978,513 total) {week 2}
2. Monsters, Inc. – $24,055,001 ($192,229,825 total) {week 4}
11. Amelie – $1,811,595 ($7,799,075 total) {week 4}
15. The Man Who Wasn’t There – $954,389 ($4,593,619 total) {week 4}
19. Training Day – $430,014 ($74,950,886 total) {week 8}
28. Mulholland Drive – $176,695 ($4,980,763 total) {week 7}
37. In the Bedroom – $93,972 ($93,972 total) {week 1}
39. Shrek – $88,295 ($267,590,891 total) {week 28}
40. Moulin Rouge! – $71,614 ($56,837,983 total) {week 28}

Oscar Details:

• Amelie: Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound, Foreign Language Film
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Original Score, Art Direction, Costume Design
• In the Bedroom: Picture, Actor (Tom Wilkinson), Actress (Sissy Spacek), Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei), Adapted Screenplay
• 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. 22-24, 1996

Weekend Box Office:

1. Star Trek: First Contact – $30,716,131 ($30,716,131 total) {week 1}
5. The Mirror Has Two Faces – $8,012,555 ($24,095,577 total) {week 2}
7. Romeo + Juliet – $3,195,515 ($35,816,436 total) {week 25}
8. The English Patient – $2,713,093 ($3,205,999 total) {week 2}
10. First Wives Club – $723,675 ($100,557,663 total) {week 10}
11. The Ghost and the Darkness – $470,211 ($36,946,439 total) {week 7}
12. Independence Day – $404,893 ($305,400,802 total) {week 21}
13. Shine – $162,179 ($162,179 total) {week 1}
14. The Rock – $11,382 ($134,057,136 total) {week 25}

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]
• The Mirror Has Two Faces: Supporting Actress (Lauren Bacall), Original Song (“I’ve Finally Found Someone”)
• The Rock: Sound
• Romeo + Juliet: Art Direction
• Shine: Picture, Director, Actor (Geoffrey Rush) [O], Supporting Actor (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Original Screenplay, Original Dramatic Score, Editing
• Star Trek: First Contact: Makeup

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 22-24, 1991

Weekend Box Office:

1. The Addams Family – $24,203,754 ($24,203,754 total) {week 1}
2. Cape Fear – $10,033,295 ($24,251,112 total) {week 2}
3. Beauty and the Beast – $9,624,149 ($9,917,522 total) {week 2}
4. For the Boys – $71,348 ($71,348 total) {week 1}

Oscar Details:

• The Addams Family: Costume Design
• 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)
• For the Boys: Actress (Bette Midler)

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 21-23, 1986

Weekend Box Office:

1. Crocodile Dundee – $5,537,875 ($83,119,455 total) {week 9}
2. An American Tail – $5,234,446 ($5,234,446 total) {week 1}
5. The Color of Money – $2,504,759 ($34,749,052 total) {week 6}
6. Peggy Sue Got Married – $2,339,621 ($31,620,623 total) {week 7}
9. Stand By Me – $1,154,357 ($43,577,043 total) {week 16}
10. Children of a Lesser God – $1,129,214 ($17,336,662 total) {week 8}
11. Top Gun – $1,017,171 ($165,069,787 total) {week 28}
12. The Mission – $227,373 ($728,653 total) {week 4}
13. Hoosiers – $201,889 ($492,954 total) {week 2}
14. Blue Velvet – $159,568 ($6,200,346 total) {week 10}

Oscar Details:

• An American Tail: Original Song (“Somewhere Out There”)
• 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