海角大神

While this year鈥檚 crop of Best Picture nominees includes lesser-known movies such as 鈥淏rooklyn鈥� and 鈥淩oom,鈥� there鈥檚 a good chance the average moviegoer might be aware of many of the films that scored nods.

This year鈥檚 list of Best Picture nominees includes such blockbusters as 鈥淭he Martian,鈥� 鈥淢ad Max: Fury Road,鈥� 鈥淏ridge of Spies,鈥� and 鈥淭he Big Short.鈥�

While only one movie 鈥� 鈥淢artian鈥� 鈥� has a place on the list of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of 2015, this year鈥檚 best picture nominees have grossed almost three times as much as last year鈥檚 nominees had done by the release of nominations, according to the website Box Office Mojo.聽

And since so many Best Picture hopefuls are released near the end of the year (perhaps to be uppermost in Oscar voters鈥� minds when nominees are chosen), some of these movies will no doubt be a big part of the 2016 box office conversation. 鈥淭he Revenant,鈥� for example, came out in limited release on Dec. 25 but expanded on Jan. 8. Following its expansion, 鈥淩evenant鈥� did extremely well and was beaten only by the massive blockbuster 鈥淪tar Wars: The Force Awakens,鈥� placing second for that weekend.聽

With the added prestige of a Best Picture nod, some of these movies could have a good performance in the coming weeks.聽

If a box office hit pulls ahead in this year鈥檚 race, it will be in stark contrast to last year鈥檚 battle, when the low-grossing films 鈥淏oyhood鈥� and 鈥淏irdman鈥� were widely seen as the two contenders for the Best Picture prize.聽

While box office hits like 鈥淎rgo鈥� and 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech鈥� have taken the Best Picture title within the last several years, that time frame has also seen some of the lowest-grossing Best Picture winners of all time, including last year鈥檚 鈥淏irdman,鈥� 2009鈥檚 鈥淭he Hurt Locker,鈥� and 2011鈥檚 鈥淭he Artist.鈥澛�

Robert Thompson, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, notes the presence of blockbusters among this year鈥檚 contenders. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got 鈥楳ad Max鈥� and 鈥楾he Martian,鈥� these big performers,鈥� he says.

He points to the increased number of Best Picture nominees as a reason for more blockbusters getting in. In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which distributes the Oscars, expanded the field to 10 nominees. There can now be between five and ten. (This year, there are eight.)

Under the old system, 鈥渢here may not be room for the blockbusters,鈥� Thompson says.聽

One reason some moviegoers may be unfamiliar with titles like 鈥淪potlight鈥� or 鈥淏rooklyn鈥� is that they come out in limited release and may never even come to certain areas. Thompson says this is all about the finances. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know the value of a small movie at time of distribution,鈥� he says.聽

But he says it鈥檚 important to remember that the Oscars aren鈥檛 about measuring what movie audiences liked best. 鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 need the Oscars if you were measuring audience taste,鈥� he says. That鈥檚 what box office standings are for.聽

And the best movie, the one given the Best Picture title, may not be the most popular. 鈥淣obody was buying Van Goghs,鈥� Thompson says.聽

But the Oscars can be valuable because they introduce little-seen movies to the public. 鈥淚t is a way of bringing people to good films,鈥� Thompson says of the awards.

Those at the Academy are no doubt always interested in viewership numbers for the telecast. A statistic that鈥檚 often brought up is that the highest-watched Oscars telecast is still the one in 1998 when 鈥淭itanic,鈥� one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, took the Best Picture title.聽

It would seem there鈥檚 a correlation between people tuning in and them having seen the movies in contention, Thompson says. 鈥淵ou had an awful lot of people who loved that movie,鈥� he says of the 鈥淭itanic鈥� ceremony. Viewership may rise 鈥渋f you鈥檝e got a whole bunch of nominees that people watched and loved.鈥澛�

So what are the chances one of these high-grossing movies will go all the way and take Best Picture?聽

鈥淚 certainly would not rule out that one of these big box office movies could get it,鈥� Thompson says.