The countdown the Oscars has begun. Just a week ago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 95th edition and, that same weekend, many of the Best Picture nominees were re-released in American theaters.
Surprisingly, only Avatar: The Way of Water managed an acceptable pass through the theaters. The film, which was recently crowned the fourth highest-grossing feature film in history, grossed a total of $15,968,532 this past weekend, according to the specialized website Box Office Mojo.
Top Gun: Maverick is the only blockbuster that could compete with the figures of James Cameron's film. However, the film starring Tom Cruise was not re-released in theaters, as it had finished its run at the box office just over a month ago, grossing, in total, $1,499,732,821.
'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'The Banshees of Inisherin' fail during their re-release
The rest, reports The Wrap, failed to make more than $1 million at the box office this weekend. Thus, Everything Everywhere All at Once, one of the favorites to win the Best Picture statuette, grossed $1,014,578. Re-released in 1,400 movie theaters throughout the country, and with eleven nominations behind it, Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Ke Quan's feature film did not do well at the box office, grossing a total of $71 million in the United States and $104 million worldwide since its release on March 25.
However, The Wrap also reports, that the film fared somewhat better than the second favorite for Best Picture at the Oscars: The Banshees of Inisherin. The film starring Colin Farrell only grossed $352,121 this weekend. This figure is considerably lower than what it achieved during the third weekend it was on the billboard. On that occasion, recalls Box Office Mojo, it earned $2,056,919.
Brendan Fraser's role in 'The Whale' attracts more attention than Best Picture nominees
The Whale, the film for which Brendan Fraser is up for Best Actor and which is still in the midst of its first theatrical run, fared somewhat better. In other words, it was not re-released. Darren Aranofsky's film earned $1,013,271 this weekend. Screened in 1,721 theaters nationwide, the film grossed $14,915,743 million in the United States and only $47,395 million in the rest of the world. However, its box office performance this weekend did better than other Best Picture nominees such as The Banshees of Inisherin and Tár.
The Whale also outperformed Women Talking. The Oscar nominee for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay failed to break the $1 million mark in its sixth weekend in theaters. Screened in 707 theaters and released nationwide only, from January 27-29 the film grossed a total of $970,469, adding to the $2,351,615 it managed to rake in since it was released last December 23.
