The Oscars box office hit is dead, but the streaming momentum is alive and kicking

“The Oscars and awards shows in general are no longer compatible with our modern media ecosystem,” Boxoffice editor Daniel Loria said. “That’s influencing what we generally call the ‘Oscar coup,’ and while a number of the nominees this year became hits independent of that, the movies that rely more on awards buzz will have to change their marketing strategy.” marketing to reach its full theatrical potential. .”

In fact, the shortening of the cinematic window in recent years hasn’t stopped films like “Avatar 2” and other blockbusters from performing similar to their pre-pandemic counterparts. “The Way of Water” in particular proved to be a global cultural phenomenon without the help of Oscar buzz with nearly $2.3 billion grossed globally.

But festival films like “The Fabelmans” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” turning their TIFF/Venice acclaim into Oscar nominations have historically required several weeks to build buzz for a respectable box office run. A variety of factors, including audience tastes away from more melancholy dramas and the industry imperative to move films from theaters to streaming faster, have undermined the ability of many Oscar contenders to build the mainstream. Word of mouth in theaters.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” was able to buck that trend a year ago, long before it was even conceivable that it could become a long-shot Oscar contender, thanks to the huge acclaim of its SXSW premiere and immediate enthusiasm. of the youngest. audiences as a big screen spectacle film, allowing it to go out and set a studio box office record for A24.

But since “Everything Everywhere” returned to theaters after Oscar nomination day, it has grossed just $3.7 million on top of the $70 million it had grossed domestically in its initial theatrical run. By contrast, streaming analytics company Samba TV reports that between nomination day and March 5, “Everything Everywhere” racked up 1.1 million streaming views on Paramount+ and Showtime, roughly 36% of its lifetime streaming total of 3 million views.

On a smaller scale, “The Banshees of Inisherin,” which has only grossed $10.5 million at the box office with $1.1 million since nomination day, saw a similar increase in its airing on HBO Max. As of March 5, Samba TV has tallied 2.6 million lifetime stream views for “Banshees,” with 35% of that total, or 917,000 views, coming from nomination day.

For some smaller-scale Best Picture nominees, the increase in streaming was far less visible. Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” which grossed $2.3 million after nomination day for a total of $17.4 million, was only available to watch at home via video on demand beginning on the day of the nomination, with only 306,000 registered views. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” the only Best Picture nominee to have only a token theatrical release before going exclusive to streaming on Netflix in late October, garnered 26% of its 3.2 million views after the nomination day.

Todd Field’s defiant canceled culture drama “Tár” opened on Peacock a week after nomination day and garnered 458,000 views to go along with its meager domestic box office total of $6.7 million, an example of how the style The film’s artistic, tense plot, and complex cultural commentary failed to resonate with a broader audience seeking an escape from the hardships of reality.

At the opposite extreme are two movies that were cultural hits long before awards season began. After Tom Cruise used sheer willpower to ensure “Top Gun: Maverick” bucked the trend of shortening theater windows, the film didn’t premiere streaming on Paramount+ until Christmas. Even so, it has amassed 5.8 million views.

The movie with the most streams overall is Warner Bros.’ “Elvis,” which found box office success on the airwaves of “Top Gun: Maverick” last summer before hitting HBO Max in early September and garnering 8.9 million views, down 20%, or 1, 8 million, after nomination day.

With the majority of Oscars going to “EEAAO” (seven wins) and “All Quiet on the Western Front” (four wins), any remaining surge in audience interest this awards season is likely to continue. accumulating in the transmission. With “Creed III” and “Scream VI” occupying considerable space in the theater and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” opening Friday, a year-old “EEAAO” probably won’t stand out in theaters. Anyone who hasn’t seen the film yet and is curious is more likely to watch it via a Paramount+ subscription or video on demand.

Even if there’s a small theatrical rise for the Best Picture winner, it likely won’t compare to the boost “Parasite” received after winning the top prize in February 2020, earning $17.7 million after Oscars Sunday. , or roughly a third of its $53.3 million total in the US and Canada.

Oddly enough to believe, it was only three years ago that a South Korean Oscar winner was able to hit theaters for the first time in October and still earn that kind of money four months later thanks to the Academy Awards hoopla. . Today, that elevator would go to streaming. It’s one more sign of how COVID-19 has permanently changed the way audiences view movies and how Hollywood releases them. The Oscars still matter: viewers just switched screens.