The nomination is an honor, but the money's good, too
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By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — It might have been an honor just to be nominated, but the money was good, too, especially for Walt Disney Co.’s Miramax division.
Each best picture nominee at Sunday’s Oscars had a box office jump in the runup to the awards show, with Miramax’s “No Country For Old Men” taking the big prize — and the cash flow that comes with it. All five films, which included Fox Searchlight’s “Juno,” Paramount Vantage’s “There Will Be Blood,” Focus Features’ “Atonement,” and Warner Bros.’ “Michael Clayton,” had their revenues increase more than 50 percent, or $110.7 million, to $327.4 million, since the Jan. 22 nominations.
“That’s a pretty healthy bump,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the tracking firm Media By Numbers.
Nielsen Media Research says preliminary ratings for the 80th annual Academy Awards telecast are 14 percent lower than the least-watched ceremony ever.
Nielsen said Monday that overnight ratings are also 21 percent lower than last year, when “The Departed” was named best picture.
The least-watched Oscars ceremony ever was in 2003, when there were 33 million viewers.
Nielsen has no estimate yet on how many people watched Sunday night, but based on ratings from the nation’s biggest markets, the Oscars will be hard-pressed to avoid an ignominious record.
The show had a 21.9 rating and 33 share.
The majority of the Oscar bounce usually comes between the nominations and the telecast, but the best picture winner will continue to reap benefits for weeks afterward, he said.
The Coen brothers’ quietly paced thriller, “No Country,” has been on a roll critically and commercially since it debuted in Cannes in May and topped $64 million through Sunday. That makes it the Coens’ highest grossing film ever. Nearly a quarter of the revenue came since it received eight nominations last month.
On Sunday night, it won four, including those for supporting actor, Javier Bardem, best directing and best adapted screenplay honors for Joel and Ethan Coen, and best picture.
“We’ve all been riding the incredible wave of success,” said Emily Bear, Miramax’s executive vice president of publicity. The company partnered with Paramount Vantage and distributed the film in the United States.
The teen-pregnancy hit “Juno,” which won for original screenplay, experienced the largest pre-Oscar surge, gaining $43.3 million since being nominated to $130.4 million through Sunday for News Corp.
The biggest percentage gainer was “There Will Be Blood,” the brooding oil-gusher drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis, which grossed 75 percent of its $35 million after it received eight Oscar nominations.
Day-Lewis won his second best- actor award, and the film took another prize for cinematography.
“We’ve had great numbers over the last few weeks,” said Rob Schulze, executive vice-president of distribution for Paramount Vantage, a division of Viacom Inc., which partnered with Miramax on the film and distributed the film domestically.
Schulze expected Day-Lewis’ win for best actor to boost box office revenues by about 20 percent, much like it did for wins by Philip Seymour Hoffman for “Capote” in 2006 and Forest Whitaker for “Last King of Scotland” last year.
“We’ll continue to gross well over the next three to six weeks,” Schulze said.
“Atonement,” the tragic romance starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, earned Focus Features an extra $16.7 million since receiving seven nominations, bringing its gross to $49.4 million. It won an Oscar only for original score.
Focus Features is owned by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Vivendi Universal.
Warner Bros.’ legal drama “Michael Clayton” was the longest running best picture nominee and received the smallest post-nomination bounce of $9.1 million, bringing its 21-week gross over $48.5 million through Sunday. Tilda Swinton won for best supporting actress in the film for her portrayal of a ruthless corporate attorney, Karen Crowder.
The studio, owned by Time Warner Inc., is aiming to capture its post-Oscar bounce on DVD, which it released Feb. 19. The other studios also seek to cash in on the Oscar telecast publicity with upcoming DVD releases.
“No Country” will be released on DVD on March 11; “Atonement” is out March 18; “Juno” will be released April 15; and “There Will Be Blood” is coming out in early April.
“Juno” promoter Steven Feldstein, spokesman for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, said the film has “pierced the popular culture like few films do” and said the DVD release is being anxiously anticipated.
“Interest in owning it is extremely high,” he said.
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