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

Shame (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Best Picture, Actor (Michael Fassbender), Supporting Actress (Carey Mulligan), Original Screenplay.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Dec. 1-3, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

1. Happy Feet – $17,545,418 ($121,501,018 total) {week 3}
7. Borat – $4,746,746 ($116,241,347 total) {week 5}
14. The Queen – $1,366,222 ($23,087,069 total) {week 10}
16. Babel – $1,001,595 ($16,774,393 total) {week 6}
18. The Departed – $825,361 ($118,002,823 total) {week 9}
21. Volver – $380,261 ($1,869,832 total) {week 5}
22. The Prestige – $344,918 ($51,648,073 total) {week 7}
24. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $179,152 ($423,271,331 total) {week 22}
29. Little Miss Sunshine – $105,727 ($59,084,296 total) {week 19}
30. Little Children – $104,377 ($1,819,876 total) {week 9}
32. Flags of Our Fathers – $95,257 ($33,479,810 total) {week 7}
35. The Illusionist – $80,412 ($39,523,246 total) {week 16}
38. Marie Antoinette – $70,373 ($15,962,471 total) {week 7}
44. The Last King of Scotland – $48,869 ($3,439,441 total) {week 10}
58. Jesus Camp – $13,884 ($823,591 total) {week 12}
66. The Devil Wears Prada – $8,175 ($124,732,962 total) {week 23}
108. Iraq in Fragments – $801 ($64,116 total) {week 4}
114. Half Nelson – $489 ($2,687,199 total) {week 17}

Oscar Details:

• Babel: Picture, Supporting Actress (Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi), Directing, Original Screenplay, Original Score [O], Editing
• Borat: Adapted Screenplay
• 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
• Jesus Camp: 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. 30-Dec. 2, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $23,642,327 ($219,670,289 total) {week 3}
4. Monsters, Inc. – $9,105,664 ($204,025,728 total) {week 5}
9. Amelie – $1,358,649 ($9,754,200 total) {week 5}
17. The Man Who Wasn’t There – $596,865 ($5,434,557 total) {week 5}
22. Training Day – $221,281 ($75,261,635 total) {week 9}
28. The Affair of the Necklace – $125,523 ($125,523 total) {week 1}
30. Mulholland Drive – $117,820 ($5,151,278 total) {week 8}
34. In the Bedroom – $98,955 ($244,369 total) {week 2}
47. Shrek – $42,722 ($267,652,016 total) {week 29}
48. Moulin Rouge! – $42,696 ($56,908,897 total) {week 29}

Oscar Details:

• The Affair of the Necklace: Costume Design
• 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. 29-Dec. 1, 1996

Weekend Box Office:

2. Star Trek: First Contact – $17,801,017 ($60,850,689 total) {week 2}
6. The Mirror Has Two Faces – $6,016,111 ($33,502,444 total) {week 3}
7. The English Patient – $4,340,950 ($9,285,765 total) {week 3}
9. Romeo + Juliet – $2,413,463 ($39,811,469 total) {week 26}
999. First Wives Club – $433,535 ($101,259,383 total) {week 11}
999. Independence Day – $295,282 ($305,891,406 total) {week 22}
999. The Crucible – $62,995 ($101,610 total) {week 1}
999. Sling Blade – $28,139 ($36,644 total) {week 1}
999. The Rock – $5,509 ($134,067,443 total) {week 26}

Oscar Details:

• The Crucible: Supporting Actress (Joan Allen), Adapted Screenplay
• 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
• 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
• Sling Blade: Actor (Billy Bob Thornton), Adapted Screenplay [O]
• Star Trek: First Contact: Makeup

20 Years Ago: The Weekend of Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 1991

Weekend Box Office:

1. The Addams Family – $20,133,616 ($55,562,137 total) {week 2}
3. Beauty and the Beast – $12,239,650 ($26,476,215 total) {week 3}
4. Cape Fear – $9,260,475 ($38,246,382 total) {week 3}
5. For the Boys – $4,533,138 ($5,941,446 total) {week 2}

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. 28-30, 1986

Weekend Box Office:

1. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – $16,881,888 ($25,402,366 total) {week 1}
2. An American Tail – $7,412,815 ($14,954,138 total) {week 2}
3. Crocodile Dundee – $7,266,867 ($94,267,407 total) {week 10}
5. The Color of Money – $3,204,806 ($39,619,628 total) {week 7}
7. Peggy Sue Got Married – $2,643,640 ($35,237,758 total) {week 8}
9. Stand By Me – $1,430,279 ($45,677,316 total) {week 17}
10. Top Gun – $1,230,908 ($166,895,594 total) {week 29}
11. Children of a Lesser God – $1,166,301 ($19,113,597 total) {week 9}
999. Hoosiers – $274,830 ($926,414 total) {week 3}
999. The Mission – $241,400 ($1,090,192 total) {week 5}

Oscar Details:

• An American Tail: Original Song (“Somewhere Out There”)
• 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
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: Original Score, Cinematography, Sound, Sound Effects Story
• Top Gun: Original Song (“Take My Breath Away” [O]), Editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing