The 95th Academy Awards are just around the corner and all eyes are on the ceremony. The 10 films nominated for Best Picture form a diverse lineup, representing films from a variety of genres and covering a wide variety of themes. There seems to be something for everyone, which ABC probably hopes will draw viewers to the broadcast after years of declining viewership.
Much has been written about how the lack of mainstream popular movies has led to a decline in Oscar viewership, and while this is true, even movies with big blockbusters like Black Panther And joker were nominated for Best Picture, and it still wasn’t enough to attract viewers. Still, this year’s nominees represent some of the biggest and most populist films nominated in a long time. With that in mind, let’s see how all the nominees fare when comparing their box office results, and which audience is most likely to see.
10 No news from the Western Front
No news from the Western Front is at the bottom if only for the fact that there are no till numbers to report on. The film is a Netflix release and although it had a limited theatrical run, Netflix does not report box office numbers and its theatrical run is mainly done to garner award nominations.
This makes it unclear how much No news from the Western Front generated at the box office, but due to its limited release, it’s a safe bet to say it was the lowest-grossing film. However, when it comes to streaming numbers, it did very well on Netflix.
9 Women talk
Women talk opened in theaters in a limited run on December 23, 2022, and unlike many of the other nominees, it was never widely released and only played in limited screens at the highest number per screen, reaching 707 theaters in the sixth week of release. As of this writing, Women talk has grossed $5 million domestically and $7 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing film among this year’s Best Picture nominees.
8 Tar
Tar is a two and a half hour psychological drama that has won many awards and received positive reviews, especially around the performance of Cate Blanchett, who is the frontrunner to win Best Actress. The film has made $6 million domestically and $20 million worldwide. The film had a limited release before expanding to a wide release for two weeks in October before losing much of its screens.
7 Triangle of sadness
Triangle of sadness premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2022 and won the Palme d’Or. It didn’t hit theaters until late October 2022. Although it only grossed $4 million domestically, it would fall below the Women talk And Tar to be the lowest-grossing Best Picture nominee domestically places it slightly above both films with its $24 million worldwide total.
6 The Fables
Steven Spielberg’s great movie The Fables was a slight disappointment at the box office. An excellent Thanksgiving weekend release date and one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time seemed to have the potential to become an award contender that was also a mainstream hit.
Likely due to a combination of factors of unclear marketing, adult dramas struggling at the box office and dark subject matter, The Fables has grossed $17 million domestically and $37 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing Steven Spielberg movie to be nominated for Best Picture.
5 The Banshees of Inisherin
The Banshees of Inisherin is another interesting case where the global total increases its place on the list. The film grossed $10 million at the domestic box office, which would normally be lower The Fabelmans, but the film fared much better at the worldwide box office with a total of $46 million. This secures it as the fifth highest-grossing film among the year’s top film nominees. From here, the numbers really jump.
4 Everything Everywhere Everything at once
Everything Everywhere Everything at once is the little movie that could. The film premiered in theaters on the same weekend as last year’s Academy Awards and has gained momentum over the year and is the frontrunner for Best Picture. A personal family drama and also a fun multi-versal action epic, Everything everywhere at once broke out with mainstream audiences and grossed $73 million domestically and $106 million worldwide, making it a bona fide blockbuster and the highest-grossing film released by A24.
3 Elvis
Elvis is one of those rare films that managed to become a major summer blockbuster without the conventional features associated with it, and also a major award contender with Austin Butler, one of the frontrunners for Best Actor. Being the biopic of one of the biggest icons in music is definitely a sell for audiences, and Elvis earned $151 million domestically and $287 million worldwide. In any other year, Elvis would be the big blockbuster nominated for Best Picture, but here it is only number three.
2 Top gun: Maverick
Top gun: Maverick was the film event of 2022 and one of the most talked about. Long delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Top gun: Maverick finally hitting theaters on May 27, 2022, was a critical darling and box office sensation where it remained in the top ten at the box office for twenty-one weeks. The film grossed $718 million domestically, making it the fifth highest-grossing film of all time at the domestic box office.
In addition, the film earned $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office where it is the 12th highest-grossing film of all time. Top gun: Maverick is one of the biggest movies in the world and is nominated for Best Picture, which feels like an anomaly. The wilder anomaly is that there was a movie that was bigger than Top gun: Maverick and it is also nominated for Best Picture.e
1 Avatar: the way of the water
A sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time and previously nominated for Best Picture, Avatar: the way of the water is the highest-grossing film nominated for Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards. Like many of the movies on this list, it’s the global box office that’s key here. Avatar: the way of the water has grossed $671 million domestically at the time of writing, which would actually bring it under Top gun: Maverick.
Yet Avatar: the way of the water had a much larger international box office that actually accounts for 70% of the total. Combination of domestic and international cash register, Avatar: the way of the water has grossed $2.28 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the third-highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation.