Despite all the love poured into smaller, more intimate works of art, nothing excites Oscar voters – or at least broadcast producers – more than having a huge studio hit in the best picture race. This year’s competition includes two giants: Universal’s musical film ‘Wicked’ and Warner Bros.’ Each installment of the sci-fi epic ‘Dune: Part 2’ has grossed more than $700 million worldwide.
But beyond these blockbusters, the rest of Thursday’s nominees went largely unnoticed, including Neon’s “Anora,” A24’s “The Brutalist,” Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez,” Amazon MGM Studios’ “Nickel Boys” and Focus Features’ “Conclave.” It wasn’t. It’s a mainstream audience, at least on the big screen. To gain broader appeal, the Academy should invest in “Wicked” providing a yellow brick road to Oscar status, while “Dune: Part Two” should provide its own additional spice.
This year’s top movie contenders grossed a total of $877 million at the domestic box office and $1.7 billion at the global box office, down 37% from last year’s $2.7 billion worldwide box office. The 2024 totals were driven almost entirely by the record-breaking success of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Indelibly linked to the “Babenheimer” cultural phenomenon, these two films grossed a combined $2.4 billion, accounting for nearly 90% of the total box office gross.
The most recent record high for best movie box office was 2023, when for the first time more than one competitor grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. This year’s biggest hit, “Top Gun: Maverick,” earned $1.5 billion worldwide, while James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” was close to $2 billion before nominations were announced. The field also includes mid-level successes like Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” and the sci-fi action hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” each of which grossed more than $100 million worldwide. The 2023 Best Picture nominees collectively earned a whopping $4.4 billion worldwide.
Not all of this year’s nominees drew sizable audiences (most of them, including “The Brutalist,” “Nickel Boys” and Brazil’s “I’m Still Here”), but they also failed to draw audiences to the multiplexes. . Still, it’s a significant improvement over the 2022 field, which was eased by the pandemic. That year, only one film (the first installment of Dune) topped $100 million at the box office.
Oscar ratings have rebounded in recent years along with box office fortunes. Ratings have steadily risen since hitting an all-time low in 2021, when “Nomadland” won Best Picture and drew fewer than 10 million viewers. Last year’s show averaged 19.5 million viewers, up 4% from 2023 but still a far cry from the 55.3 million who tuned in to see “Titanic,” which was the biggest box office hit of all time at the time. In 1998, it shared 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
