Vera Farmiga, George Clooney in Up in the Air (Dale Robinette / Paramount); Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron in The Blind Side (Ralph Nelson / Warner Bros.) (middle); Meryl Streep, Steve Martin in It's Complicated (Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal) (bottom)
On Tuesday, James Cameron’s Avatar once again topped the North American box-office chart, with $2.688m, a minuscule 0.4 percent drop from the day before, according to figures provided by Box Office Mojo. The Academy Award nominations announced early that day apparently didn't have much of an effect on the film's grosses, unless the attendance drop was going to be much steeper. However, that hasn't been the case in the last several weeks.
At a distant second, Mel Gibson’s revenge thriller Edge of Darkness gained 5 percent, with $1.384m and a $452 per screen average. The film's total to date is $19.9m. The Josh Duhamel-Kristen Bell romantic comedy When in Rome, came in third place with $872K, an 11.2 percent increase, and $355 per screen. Total: $14m.
At #4, Denzel Washington’s post-apocalyptic drama The Book of Eli grossed $729K (2 percent drop), followed by Legion with $592K (5.3 percent drop). Dwayne Johnson’s Tooth Fairy was #6 with $456K (13.5 percent drop). Total to date: $27m after 12 days.
Rounding out the top twelve were Meryl Streep’s romantic comedy It’s Complicated ($367K, with a solid 20.8 percent increase), Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes ($345K), Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones ($332K), George Clooney’s Up in the Air ($201K, with a remarkable 44.8 percent increase), Sandra Bullock’s The Blind Side ($288K, a 26.7 percent increase), Jeff Bridges' Crazy Heart ($225K, a 20.3 percent increase), and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel ($187K, a 15.2 percent drop).
Did the Oscar nominations help out? Sure they did — a little. Movies already on their way out of the top ten had the most gain. Although It's Complicated was totally shut out, Meryl Streep is in the running for Julie & Julia, which is no longer playing. The Oscar publicity surrounding Streep's name most likely was responsible for Nancy Meyers' comedy selling more tickets. Up in the Air and The Blind Side were both nominated for best picture, while George Clooney, Sandra Bullock, and Jeff Bridges are all in the running as well.
Further down the chart, Colin Firth's A Single Man ($68K) gained 27.3 percent from the previous day, while Gabourey Sidibe's Precious ($37K) gained 77.5 percent. Firth is up for a best actor Oscar; Precious received six nominations, including Best Picture.
It should be noted that several movies at the bottom of the box-office chart (The Men Who Stare at Goats, Law Abiding Citizen, That Evening Sun, The Road) posted increases on Tuesday, even though they had nothing whatsoever to do with the Oscars.
Overall, the domestic box office increased by a mere 2.4 percent from the day before — and showed an 11.8 percent drop from the previous Tuesday.
Better a little than nothing at all
Well even without any Oscar's nominations, The men who stare at goats has two of its main character nominated for best actor.