Oscar Winners Don't Make Movies More Money

By Jo Piazza Posted Feb 5th 2011 03:00PM

There has been a lot of talk lately about the value of an Academy Award. We told you last week that if Natalie Portman wins the Oscar for Best Actress, her market value is expected to increase by at least 20%. But is she worth it? Do movies with Academy Award winners and nominees actually do better at the box office than films starring folks the Academy ignores?

The value of using a former winner or nominee in a future project may be inflated.

In fact, when it comes to box office gross, having a former winner or nominee can be a bit of a crapshoot.

In 2010, 85% of the top twenty grossing movies for the year (with grosses provided by BoxOfficeMojo.com) contained at least one Academy-Award nominee. 40% of those top twenty contained at least one Academy-Award winner.

The list includes a variety of different kinds of films ranging from thrillers, animated features and serious-minded dramas such as 'Inception' (Winners: Michael Caine and Marion Cottilard; Nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Tom Berenger) , 'True Grit' (Winners: Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon; Nominee: Josh Brolin), 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' (Nominees: Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter), and 'Toy Story 3' (Winner: Tom Hanks; Nominees: Joan Cusack and Ned Beatty). These films grossed between $119 million and $415 million at the box office.

Let's compare this to some of the lowest-grossing films of 2010, those ranked from 80-99 based on gross by Box Office Mojo. These movies grossed between $26 million and $37 million. Using the 80-99 ranked slots allows for the inclusion of enough major studio movies to make a good comparison to the top 20. Going below the 100th ranked film enters the territory of independent films and documentaries which can't be measured on the same scale. For this lower grossing tier of films, 50% of them contained at least one Academy Award-winner, while 40% contained at least one nominee. The incidence of winners in the lower tier is actually higher than for the higher grossing films.

Looking at the grosses it is clear that nabbing an Oscar winner for a film by no means guarantees monetary success. For instance, 'The American' starring George Clooney, grossed only $35 million in 2010, making it the 83rd ranked film by gross of the year. Similarly, the romantic comedy 'How Do You Know?', starring two previous Academy Award winners, Reese Witherspoon and Jack Nicholson, as well as previous nominee Owen Wilson, ranked 94th for the year, grossing just over $30 million.

Movies love to include their winners and nominees in their marketing materials. That's why we see lists of who has won and who has been nominated in film trailers. According to numbers from 2010 at least, the effect appears to be negligible.

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Tags: oscars

Comments

(11)

Saturday 05 February

By cqdeed

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It's new day. In the olden days of Hollywood the public primarily saw the stars only in their movies. Now their antics are all over the media and we don't have to go to the movies to see more of their lives than that of our neighbors.

Monday 07 February

By BTDT

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"'True Grit' (Winners: Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon; Nominee: Josh Brolin),"

Everyone in this film was great but the standout performance was delivered by Brolin. It was a small part, but he nailed it.

By courtney

that is a lie depending on the film for example Color of Money Doubled it's box office after Paul Newman won the best actor oscar just as Mr & Mrs Bridge would've had Joanne Woodward won her second oscar but because she didn't it did fairly well for an indy movie it made 7.7 million dollars. though most films of late aren't exactly great for this kind of thing so it doesn't surprise me that an oscar win no longer affects the box office.

By Mr. Kidd II

NOTE TO POPEATER:

Anyone else notice how the picture gallery icon on the right that says Stars and their Pets is really Stars on the Beach???

By Ralph Zuccaro

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I'll bat you that Natalie Portman goes on to make millions in the Porno industry -Thats where she belongs with the rest of the trash affiliated with that movie!!!!

By plz

WGAF anyway?

By Dennis

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Does it really matter? Not all movies are made for the money. Some people are just trying to tell a story or are just artists trying to get ehir work noticed, which is fine. Most of the time, the movies that make money are mindless drivel marketed to the dumbed-down Jersey Shore audiences anyway.

Sunday 06 February

By trinamiller

Coupons using the website Printapons are visible on every page so that you don't miss an opportunity to save!

By Laurie

The real problem is, most people don't see the nominated movies. Few multi-generational crowd pleasers nowadays. The Oscars are sort of a joke anyway. Likable as she is, was Sandra Bullock really better than Meryl Streep last year?

By John F.C. Taylor

The public does not choose the winners, the movie industry does. If it were the public choosing the awards, a winner's position in a film might actually mean more at the box office. Best example is just about every year the best picture is NOT the one thast makes the most money.

By Brad

I can't stand the Academy Awards... it's all hype and should be kept as an internal thing. It really means little to anyone outside of the hollywood garbage. I would like to see the "star system" drop. There are so many wonderful good actors out there who could fill any role. Why do we need to keep seeing so many of these no talent and low talent people over and over again? I NEVER go to a movie based on who is in it.

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