Alright, yes, Paul Blart: Mall Cop held on to the number one
spot this weekend with a very narrow decline. And yes, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans opened in second
place with respectable numbers considering Kate Beckinsale did not return for
this third outing. None of this
matters though because this past Thursday, the 81st Annual Academy
Award nominations were announced and it’s time to check in on the top nominee
to see how they fared now that the highest honours have been bestowed upon
them.
Two out of the five nominees for Best Picture find
themselves in the Top 10. Re-entering in ninth place this weekend is the nominee leader with a
whopping 13 nods, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The film has been playing in wide
release now for six weeks but still managed an 8% increase. With a total of $111 million, it is by
far the most successful of the five nominees. It may have come in second place in the overall tally but Slumdog Millionaire is the top box office performer this weekend amongst the
nominees. The film entered its
first wide release frame this weekend and moved up five spots to reach the
number five position, a new high in its lengthy 11 week run. The film has nabbed up over $55 million
already and judging from the reception and accolades that keep lining up for
it, the Danny Boyle success is almost certainly destined to top $100 million.
Slumdog Millionaire was not the only Oscar hopeful that
planned its wide release expansion for this weekend to coincide with expected
nominations. Best Picture nominee, Frost/Nixon added a hefty 946 screens to see its take increase over 350% from
last weekend. While it may sound
impressive, its average was under $3K, which is nothing compared to the
averages it was pulling down in limited release. The Wrestler only managed to earn two Oscar nods
(Springsteen was robbed!) but that didn’t stop it from increasing over 115%
after adding 422 screens this last week. Revolutionary Road came up short at the Oscars, earning only three
nominations but it had already planned to add 887 screens so what can you
do. The film saw its returns
increase by 195% and just missed the Top 10 so hopefully that will make up for
the Academy not giving the love to Winslet’s disheartening performance. Lastly, The Dark Knight reentered IMAX
theatres this weekend in hopes of capitalizing on its nominations and crossing
the $1 billion mark internationally. Sadly, it missed the nominations in all the major categories, save for
Heath Ledger’s supporting turn, and Warner Bros. has not released its projected
earnings so I can’t even tell you if it lost out there too.
The remaining two nominees for Best Picture did nothing this
weekend to take advantage of their recognition. Still, both Milk and The Reader saw their earnings increase
by 10% each. Milk is essentially
finishing its run while The Reader will expand next weekend.
Weekend Top 10
| # | Title | GROSS | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Total | Distributor |
| 1 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop | $21.5M | -32.5 | 3,144 | 2 | 6,838 | $64.8M | Sony |
| 2 | Underworld: Rise of the Lycans | $20.7M | NEW | 2,942 | 1 | 7,036 | $20.7M | Screen Gems |
| 3 | Gran Torino | $16.0M | -27.2 | 3,045 | 7 | 5,255 | $97.6M | Warner Bros. |
| 4 | Hotel for Dogs | $12.4M | -27.3 | 3,271 | 2 | 3,779 | $37.0M | Dreamworks |
| 5 | Slumdog Millionaire | $10.6M | +80.4 | 1,411 | 11 | 7,477 | $55.9M | Fox Searchlight |
| 6 | My Bloody Valentine 3D | $10.1M | -52.7 | 2,534 | 2 | 3,966 | $37.7M | Lionsgate |
| 7 | Inkheart | $7.7M | NEW | 2,655 | 1 | 2,910 | $7.7M | New Line |
| 8 | Bride Wars | $7.0M | -39.9 | 2,621 | 3 | 2,671 | $48.7M | Fox |
| 9 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | $6.0M | +7.6 | 2,263 | 5 | 2,651 | $111.0M | Paramount |
| 10 | Notorious | $5.7M | -72.2 | 1,641 | 2 | 3,473 | $31.8M | Fox Searchlight |