The Oscar best picture race has lit up the box office this season, something that hardly ever happens. The reason is that the domestic films this year out of the major studios have all been good. Four movies upcoming with all probably be, at the very least, $100 million babies: Zero Dark Thirty, Les Miserables, Django Unchained, The Hobbit.
This weekend’s box office put Ben Affleck’s Argo over the $100 million mark. How are the Oscar contenders doing? Lincoln is probably the most impressive of the bunch, having made so much money so fast in fewer locations. Strong word of mouth is driving its box office upwards and it could end up being the highest grossing of the Best Picture nominees.
The Oscar contenders that had the highest per theater average were Rust and Bone, $12,000, Silver Linings Playbook, at around $9,000, Hitchcock with $8,000, Lincoln, at around $6,000. Anna Karenina hanging in there with $5,000, and Life of Pi, with $4,000. Life of Pi matches, give or take, the two number one movies at the box office this weekend, Twilight and Skyfall.
Argo $101,005,000
Lincoln $83,698,000
Flight $81,527,000
Life of Pi $48,361,000
Moonrise Kingdom $45,512,466
Silver Linings Playbook $10,991,000
Anna Karenina $4,084,000