{"id":85,"date":"2010-03-07T02:53:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-07T02:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2010\/03\/oscar-winners-slipping-at-the-box-office-2009\/"},"modified":"2010-03-07T02:53:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-07T02:53:00","slug":"oscar-winners-slipping-at-the-box-office-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2010\/03\/oscar-winners-slipping-at-the-box-office-2009.html","title":{"rendered":"Oscar winners slipping at the box office — 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I devoted posts to this subject in 2005<\/a>, 2006<\/a>, 2007<\/a> and 2008<\/a> \u2014 so I might as well whip one up for 2009, as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, a recap:<\/p>\n

2005<\/a> marked the first time since 1996 that the Best Picture winner<\/i> did not gross at least $100 million, the first time since 1985 that not one of the Best Picture nominees<\/i> grossed at least $100 million, and the first time in living memory that the Best Picture winner was not one of the Top 25 grossing films of its year. In fact, the winner that year \u2014 Crash<\/a><\/i> \u2014 grossed a mere $54.6 million and ranked way, way down at #49.<\/p>\n

2006<\/a> brought a return to Hollywood form with the Best Picture victory of The Departed<\/a><\/i>, which grossed $132.4 million and ranked #15 for the year.<\/p>\n

Then, in 2007<\/a>, the Oscars went \u201carthouse\u201d again, by giving the top prize to No Country for Old Men<\/a><\/i>, which grossed $74.3 million and ranked #36 for the year. Ironically, the only nominee that year to gross over $100 million was also an \u201cindependent\u201d film, namely Juno<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

And then, in 2008<\/a>, the Oscars went \u201cpopular\u201d again, by giving the top prize to Slumdog Millionaire<\/a><\/i>, which, despite being an \u201cindependent\u201d film and a quasi-foreign one to boot, wound up grossing $141.3 million and ranking #16 for the year.<\/p>\n

And now, it is time for the nominees<\/a> of 2009<\/a> \u2014 and for the first time since the 1940s, there are ten nominees rather than five, precisely because the Academy wanted to make more room in this category for \u201cpopular\u201d, audience-friendly films. Here are their current grosses and box-office rankings, as of yesterday:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Avatar<\/a><\/i> \u2014 $714,464,000 \u2014 1st<\/li>\n
  2. Up<\/a><\/i> \u2014 $293,004,164 \u2014 5th<\/li>\n
  3. The Blind Side<\/a><\/i> \u2014 $249,550,000 \u2014 8th<\/li>\n
  4. Inglourious Basterds<\/a><\/i> \u2014 $120,540,719 \u2014 25th<\/li>\n
  5. District 9<\/i> \u2014 $115,646,235 \u2014 27th<\/li>\n
  6. Up in the Air<\/i> \u2014 $82,403,758 \u2014 38th<\/li>\n
  7. Precious: Based on the Novel \u2018Push\u2019 by Sapphire<\/a><\/i> \u2014 $47,213,987 \u2014 65th<\/li>\n
  8. The Hurt Locker<\/i> \u2014 $12,671,105 \u2014 131st<\/li>\n
  9. An Education<\/a><\/i> \u2014 $11,679,616 \u2014 135th<\/li>\n
  10. A Serious Man<\/a><\/i> \u2014 $9,228,768 \u2014 145th<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Of course, these totals can and will change, and the rankings of at least a few of these films will no doubt slide up a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n

    I\u2019ll copy the list that I compiled four years ago below, and I\u2019ll add this year\u2019s winner after it is announced tonight.<\/p>\n

    2009 \u2014 126 \u2014 $14.7 million \u2014 The Hurt Locker<\/i>
    2008 \u2014 16 \u2014 $141.3 million \u2014 Slumdog Millionaire<\/i>
    2007 \u2014 36 \u2014 $74.3 million \u2014 No Country for Old Men<\/i>
    2006 \u2014 15 \u2014 $132.4 million \u2014 The Departed<\/i>
    2005 \u2014 49 \u2014 $54.6 million \u2014 Crash<\/i>
    2004 \u2014 24 \u2014 $100.5 million \u2014 Million Dollar Baby<\/i>
    2003 \u2014 1 \u2014 $377.0 million \u2014 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King<\/i>
    2002 \u2014 10 \u2014 $170.7 million \u2014 Chicago<\/i>
    2001 \u2014 11 \u2014 $170.7 million \u2014 A Beautiful Mind<\/i>
    2000 \u2014 4 \u2014 $187.7 million \u2014 Gladiator<\/i>
    1999 \u2014 13 \u2014 $130.1 million \u2014 American Beauty<\/i>
    1998 \u2014 18 \u2014 $100.3 million \u2014 Shakespeare in Love<\/i>
    1997 \u2014 1 \u2014 $600.8 million \u2014 Titanic<\/i>
    1996 \u2014 19 \u2014 $78.7 million \u2014 The English Patient<\/i>
    1995 \u2014 18 \u2014 $75.6 million \u2014 Braveheart<\/i>
    1994 \u2014 1 \u2014 $329.7 million \u2014 Forrest Gump<\/i>
    1993 \u2014 9 \u2014 $96.1 million \u2014 Schindler\u2019s List<\/i>
    1992 \u2014 11 \u2014 $101.2 million \u2014 Unforgiven<\/i>
    1991 \u2014 4 \u2014 $130.7 million \u2014 Silence of the Lambs<\/i>
    1990 \u2014 3 \u2014 $184.2 million \u2014 Dances with Wolves<\/i>
    1989 \u2014 8 \u2014 $106.6 million \u2014 Driving Miss Daisy<\/i>
    1988 \u2014 1 \u2014 $172.8 million \u2014 Rain Man<\/i>
    1987 \u2014 25 \u2014 $44.0 million \u2014 The Last Emperor<\/i>
    1986 \u2014 3 \u2014 $138.5 million \u2014 Platoon<\/i>
    1985 \u2014 5 \u2014 $87.1 million \u2014 Out of Africa<\/i>
    1984 \u2014 12 \u2014 $52.0 million \u2014 Amadeus<\/i>
    1983 \u2014 2 \u2014 $108.4 million \u2014 Terms of Endearment<\/i>
    1982 \u2014 12 \u2014 $52.8 million \u2014 Gandhi<\/i>
    1981 \u2014 7 \u2014 $59.0 million \u2014 Chariots of Fire<\/i>
    1980 \u2014 11 \u2014 $54.8 million \u2014 Ordinary People<\/i>
    1979 \u2014 xx \u2014 $106.3 million \u2014 Kramer Vs. Kramer<\/i>
    1978 \u2014 xx \u2014 $49.0 million \u2014 The Deer Hunter<\/i>
    1977 \u2014 xx \u2014 $38.3 million \u2014 Annie Hall<\/i>
    1976 \u2014 xx \u2014 $117.2 million \u2014 Rocky<\/i>
    1975 \u2014 xx \u2014 $109.0 million \u2014 One Flew over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/i>
    1974 \u2014 xx \u2014 $47.5 million \u2014 The Godfather Part II<\/i>
    1973 \u2014 xx \u2014 $156.0 million \u2014 The Sting<\/i>
    1972 \u2014 xx \u2014 $133.7 million \u2014 The Godfather<\/i>
    1971 \u2014 xx \u2014 $51.7 million \u2014 The French Connection<\/i>
    1970 \u2014 xx \u2014 $61.7 million \u2014 Patton<\/i><\/p>\n

    MAR 10 UPDATE: Updated to include the winner for 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I devoted posts to this subject in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 \u2014 so I might as well whip one up for 2009, as well. First, a recap: 2005 marked the first time since 1996 that the Best Picture winner did not gross at least $100 million, the first time since 1985 that not one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOscar winners slipping at the box office -- 2009<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I devoted posts to this subject in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 -- so I might as well whip one up for 2009, as well.First, a recap:2005 marked the first time\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2010\/03\/oscar-winners-slipping-at-the-box-office-2009.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oscar winners slipping at the box office -- 2009\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I devoted posts to this subject in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 -- so I might as well whip one up for 2009, as well.First, a recap:2005 marked the first time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2010\/03\/oscar-winners-slipping-at-the-box-office-2009.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-07T02:53:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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