The 2022 Oscars made almost nothing in terms of theatrical revenues due to streaming availability and lackluster mainstream interest in most titles.
The Academy Awards nominations were made public last month. All indications pointed to the expected box office boost from moviegoers returning to their local theaters to view the Best Picture nominees. That prediction proved to be true on Oscar Sunday.
Comscore data indicates that seven Best Picture candidates have made $10.1 million since the nomination list’s release on February 8. That’s roughly the same amount as the $10.2 million that 2020 Best Picture winner “Parasite”Only four weeks separated nomination day from Oscar Sunday. This total was followed by a $6.6million boost the weekend following its historic win.
There are many factors that contributed to this crash. For one, most of the films in this year’s field had already finished most if not all of their theatrical runs by the time they were nominated. The one exception was MGM’s “Licorice Pizza,”This movie grossed $4.3 million after it increased its theater count from 786 in order to just under 2000 after receiving a Best Picture nomination.
On the other end, Warner Bros.’ “Dune,”The top-grossing Best Picture nominee, with $400 million gross worldwide, only made $500,000 after a short re-release in Feb. Before returning to streaming on HBO Max’s June 10, Other nominees made similar moves in streaming during and before Oscar Sunday. “Nightmare Alley”Hulu and HBO Max will be available February 1st “West Side Story”Get Disney+ by March 2nd “King Richard”This past weekend, HBO Max was restored to our home.
Then, of course, there are the three films from streaming companies that only stayed in theaters for a couple of weeks last fall: Apple’s “CODA”And Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog”And “Don’t Look Up.” Two of those three films — “Power” and “CODA” — are considered the most likely to win Best Picture on Sunday, meaning that what would have already been a very small post-win theatrical bump will become nonexistent as any curious viewers will see the victor from the comfort of their living rooms.
And there’s simply a lack of awareness about many of the nominees — whether or not streaming is to blame. Screen Engine/ASI poll published the first Screen Engine/ASI poll. Los Angeles TimesOnly four films were more popular than 40% in the survey. “West Side Story”This was the only one with 55% of the population being aware.
These surveys asked respondents if they had. seenThe numbers for each Best Picture nominee were even worse. While it’s important to note that the survey was conducted in early March, no nominee had been seen by more than 20% of those polled, with “Don’t Look Up”The highest viewership (19%) “CODA,” “The Power of the Dog,” “Belfast,” “Licorice Pizza,” “Nightmare Alley”And “Drive My Car” all fell under 10%.
The Oscars, despite declining ratings and strong backlash from its members for having eight categories filmed to a pre-show tapeing, find themselves at crossroads both as an institution in Hollywood and as an asset for a film industry that historically has used them as a tool to attract attention to more mature films beyond the blockbusters that dominate the box office.
It is difficult to know if the Oscar bump is on the verge of serious decline. There are too many other factors. Not only were this year’s nominees unable to draw out older moviegoers that would usually be interested in what they offer because of the Omicron variant surge this winter, but the absence of the Golden Globes thanks to the HFPA scandal took away a major date on the awards season calendar that guides how studios release their contenders.
With the future of both the pandemic and Hollywood’s awards season still up in the air, it is anyone’s guess what sort of theatrical climate the contenders for the 2023 Oscars will come out in. In a world in which films that have been recognized by the Academy are of exceptional quality now face greater competition than ever before, the financial and cultural viability of the Academy Awards has never been more in doubt.
