Oscar winners vs. box office hits
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
What does the Oscar for Best Picture mean to the average moviegoer? The answer recently: not too much.
Beginning in the 1980s, almost every Best Picture winner also grossed at least $100 million, according to . But a new trend emerged in the early 2000s. Many of the Best Picture winners stumbled financially. One or two recent winners avoided this fate, but 鈥淭he Hurt Locker鈥� (2009) is currently the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner ever, followed closely by 鈥淐rash鈥� (2005), 鈥淣o Country for Old Men鈥� (2007), and 鈥�The Artist鈥� (2011). Today鈥檚 moviegoers are drawn toward big special effects and A-list actors, but those characteristics aren鈥檛 always found in the movies the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences likes. And with special effects topping out with each new superhero or fantasy blockbuster, it seems the gap between the spectacles of sight and sound that audiences love and the thought-provoking story lines that the academy prefers will only widen.
But there are signs that the average cinema junkie and Hollywood鈥檚 ruling class of voters can still meet in the middle.聽 Last year鈥檚 Best Picture winner, 鈥淎rgo,鈥� did very well at the box office, pulling in $136 million domestically. Two of the three movies seen as front-runners for this year鈥檚 Best Picture Oscar 鈥� 鈥淕ravity鈥� and 鈥淎merican Hustle鈥� 鈥� are financial hits, too.
Bob Bassett, dean of Chapman University鈥檚 Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, says movies can be box-office hits and Oscar darlings if they follow the formula similar to the one played out in 鈥淕ravity.鈥� The story needs to be 鈥渃ompelling,鈥� 鈥渁nd then if they add special effects, it will be [lucrative at the] international box office,鈥� Mr. Bassett says. 鈥淧eople want to see something they haven鈥檛 seen before.鈥�
But viewers can count on the academy holding on to its standards. The third Best Picture contender for 2014, 鈥�12 Years a Slave,鈥� lags far behind at the box office with only $44 million in sales. Meanwhile, 鈥淗ustle鈥� with $130 million in ticket sales at press time, is on pace to catch up to recent high-grossing Best Picture winners such as 鈥淪lumdog Millionaire鈥� ($141 million) and 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech鈥� ($135 million). 鈥淕ravity,鈥� which topped the box office for multiple weeks and at press time had grossed $262 million, could become the highest-grossing Best Picture winner since 鈥淭he Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King鈥� raked in $377 million in 2003.
It鈥檚 not that 鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥� and other low-grossing films aren鈥檛 deserving of their Oscar nominations. It鈥檚 just that many moviegoers simply don鈥檛 want to see a dark film, Bassett says. 鈥淸鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥橾 is grim and people know that. People want to feel that there鈥檚 hope at the end.鈥�
