Oscar-Nominated Flicks Ride Buzz To Box Office Sales

Do Academy Award nominations impact the distribution and ticket sales of nominated movies? Nielsen EDI compared the number of theaters showing each movie and ticket sales before and after the nominations were announced on January 22 and found significant increases in most cases.
With the exception of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, each of the Best Film nominees saw triple-digit percentage increases in theater count after they were nominated. The increased distribution of these films also led to box office sales increases anywhere from 18% to 72% in the weeks following the nominations.
THEATER COUNT OF BEST FILM NOMINEES
RANK | FILM | BEFORE NOMINATION |
AFTER NOMINATION |
% CHANGE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FROST/NIXON | 153 | 1099 | 618% |
2 | MILK | 250 | 882 | 253% |
3 | THE READER | 367 | 1002 | 173% |
4 | SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE | 582 | 1415 | 143% |
5 | THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON | 2223 | 2263 | 2% |
source: The Nielsen Company 2009 |
BOX OFFICE SALES OF BEST FILM NOMINEES
RANK | FILM | 3 WEEKENDS BEFORE NOMINATION |
3 WEEKENDS AFTER NOMINATION |
% CHANGE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | THE READER | $4,268,323 | $7,326,702 | 72% |
2 | FROST/NIXON | $3,110,726 | $5,197,785 | 67% |
3 | SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE | $15,494,836 | $25,505,612 | 65% |
4 | MILK | $3,123,125 | $3,690,247 | 18% |
5 | THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON | $34,489,059 | $11,932,358 | -65% |
source: The Nielsen Company 2009 |
Nielsen also found that impressive gross sales are not required for a film to be nominated in the top categories. For example, Frost/Nixon, in movie theaters for eleven weeks, earned only $17 million at the U.S. box office through February 16, while fellow nominee Benjamin Button pulled in close to $123 million since its December 25 release.
TOTAL GROSS SALES OF BEST FILM NOMINEES
RANK | FILM | OPEN DATE | GROSS |
---|---|---|---|
1 | THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON | 12/25/2008 | $122,573,294 |
2 | SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE | 11/12/2008 | $88,101,863 |
3 | MILK | 11/26/2008 | $26,748,699 |
4 | THE READER | 12/10/2008 | $19,618,951 |
5 | FROST/NIXON | 12/5/2008 | $16,561,626 |
source: The Nielsen Company 2009 |
https://www.qa.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2009/oscar-nominated-flicks-ride-buzz-to-box-office-sales/