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

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Wide)

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

Carnage (Limited)

Oscar Potential: Director, Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly), Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet), Adapted Screenplay.

5 Years Ago: The Weekend of Dec. 15-17, 2006

Weekend Box Office:

1. The Pursuit of Happyness – $26,541,709 ($26,541,709 total) {week 1}
4. Happy Feet – $8,358,421 ($149,244,791 total) {week 5}
6. Apocalypto – $8,008,126 ($28,209,532 total) {week 2}
7. Blood Diamond – $6,517,471 ($18,637,257 total) {week 2}
14. Borat – $1,543,840 ($122,813,553 total) {week 7}
15. The Queen – $666,687 ($25,646,953 total) {week 12}
17. Babel – $495,750 ($18,320,965 total) {week 8}
19. Dreamgirls – $378,950 ($378,950 total) {week 1}
21. The Departed – $341,300 ($119,273,628 total) {week 11}
22. Volver – $313,413 ($2,865,369 total) {week 7}
33. Little Children – $77,587 ($2,036,841 total) {week 11}
34. The Good German – $76,817 ($76,817 total) {week 1}
37. The Prestige – $58,699 ($52,021,500 total) {week 9}
38. Little Miss Sunshine – $58,074 ($59,315,777 total) {week 21}
46. The Illusionist – $35,492 ($39,682,791 total) {week 18}
49. The Last King of Scotland – $33,206 ($3,535,251 total) {week 12}
63. Jesus Camp – $8,442 ($855,587 total) {week 14}

Oscar Details:

• Apocalypto: Makeup, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
• Babel: Picture, Supporting Actress (Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi), Directing, Original Screenplay, Original Score [O], Editing
• Blood Diamond: Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Supporting Actor (Djimon Hounsou), Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
• Borat: Adapted Screenplay
• The Departed: Picture [O], Director [O], Supporting Actor (Mark Wahlberg), Adapted Screenplay [O], Editing
• Dreamgirls: Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy), Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson) [O], Original Song (“Listen”, “Love You I Do”, “Patience”), Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound [O]
• The Good German: Original Score
• Happy Feet: Animated Feature [O]
• The Illusionist: Cinematography
• 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]
• The Prestige: Cinematography, Art Direction
• The Pursuit of Happyness: Actor (Will Smith)
• The Queen: Picture, Directing, Actress (Helen Mirren [O]), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Costume Design
• Volver: Actress (Penelope Cruz)

10 Years Ago: The Weekend of Dec. 14-16, 2001

Weekend Box Office:

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $9,919,596 ($253,269,579 total) {week 5}
6. Monsters, Inc. – $4,980,223 ($218,815,112 total) {week 7}
10. Amelie – $773,164 ($12,513,841 total) {week 7}
18. Training Day – $229,348 ($76,074,739 total) {week 11}
20. The Man Who Wasn’t There – $225,257 ($6,330,513 total) {week 7}
34. In the Bedroom – $72,787 ($484,447 total) {week 4}
35. Mulholland Drive – $70,135 ($5,367,713 total) {week 10}
43. The Affair of the Necklace – $43,118 ($347,862 total) {week 3}
51. Iris – $23,144 ($23,144 total) {week 1}
54. Moulin Rouge! – $21,397 ($56,987,332 total) {week 31}
56. No Man’s Land – $20,949 ($54,078 total) {week 2}

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
• Iris: Actress (Judi Dench), Supporting Actor (Jim Broadbent) [O], Supporting Actress (Kate Winslet)
• 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)
• No Man’s Land: Foreign Language Film
• Training Day: Actor (Denzel Washington [O]), Supporting Actor (Ethan Hawke)

15 Years Ago: The Weekend of Dec. 13-15, 1996

Weekend Box Office:

1. Jerry Maguire – $17,084,296 ($17,084,296 total) {week 1}
7. Star Trek: First Contact – $3,432,345 ($76,721,064 total) {week 4}
10. The English Patient – $1,779,831 ($16,015,227 total) {week 5}
11. The Mirror Has Two Faces – $1,002,631 ($39,055,749 total) {week 5}
999. The Crucible – $74,409 ($282,924 total) {week 3}
999. Independence Day – $36,769 ($306,124,059 total) {week 24}
999. Shine – $135,266 ($943,978 total) {week 3}

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]
• Independence Day: Sound, Visual Effects [O]
• Jerry Maguire: Picture, Actor (Tom Cruise), Supporting Actor (Cuba Gooding Jr.) [O], Original Screenplay, Film Editing
• The Mirror Has Two Faces: Supporting Actress (Lauren Bacall), Original Song (“I’ve Finally Found Someone”)
• 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 Dec. 13-15, 1991

Weekend Box Office:

1. Hook – $13,522,535 ($17,059,705 total) {week 1}
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – $7,791,912 ($30,432,868 total) {week 2}
4. The Addams Family – $4,721,221 ($73,648,514 total) {week 4}
5. Beauty and the Beast – $4,575,124 ($39,967,102 total) {week 5}
7. Cape Fear – $2,944,725 ($50,405,747 total) {week 5}
8. For the Boys – $1,476,304 ($12,026,940 total) {week 4}
999. Bugsy – $140,358 ($140,358 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
• Bugsy: Picture, Director, Actor (Warren Beatty), Supporting Actor (Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley), Original Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography, Art Direction [O], Costume Design [O]
• Cape Fear: Actor (Robert De Niro), Supporting Actress (Juliette Lewis)
• For the Boys: Actress (Bette Midler)
• Hook: Original Song (“When You’re Alone”), Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Visual Effects
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: Original Score, Cinematography, Sound, Sound Effects Editing

25 Years Ago: The Weekend of Dec. 12-14, 1986

Weekend Box Office:

3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – $5,062,450 ($46,573,341 total) {week 3}
4. Heartbreak Ridge – $4,721,454 ($15,728,614 total) {week 2}
5. An American Tail – $2,613,420 ($23,672,203 total) {week 4}
6. Crocodile Dundee – $2,273,536 ($102,855,724 total) {week 12}
9. Peggy Sue Got Married – $820,264 ($37,848,832 total) {week 10}
10. The Color of Money – $694,431 ($42,719,446 total) {week 9}
11. Stand By Me – $500,692 ($47,361,304 total) {week 19}

Oscar Details:

• An American Tail: Original Song (“Somewhere Out There”)
• The Color of Money: Actor (Paul Newman [O]), Supporting Actress (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction
• Crocodile Dundee: Original Screenplay
• Heartbreak Ridge: Sound
• 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 Editing