Oscar Nominees Get a Shot in the Box Office

There’s nothing like a few Academy Award nominations to boost box office receipts. All five of the films nominated for best picture last week--”Rain Man,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Working Girl,” and “The Accidental Tourist”--enjoyed big jumps in ticket sales. And it wasn’t just because of the holiday weekend, said John Krier, president of Exhibitor Relations. The Academy Award nominations played a big role, he said.

Imagine Films’ new production, “The ‘burbs,” was the weekend’s top grossing film--aided, no doubt, by star Tom Hanks, who received a best actor nomination last week for his performance in the summer hit “Big.”

“I think it helped,” Thomas Pollock, Universal’s motion picture group chairman, said of Hanks’ nomination. “Though I don’t think it helped enormously. Tom Hanks is a genuine movie star. It didn’t hurt to remind people of that.”

“The ‘burbs” outdrew the competition despite a critical reception that ranged from lukewarm to outright hostile. This was the sixth time since last summer that a film distributed by Universal has opened at No. 1, though some of those--like “Gorillas in the Mist”--went on to disappointing results after the first weekend.

Meanwhile, the film that won seven Academy Awards in 1963, “Lawrence of Arabia,” drew crowds at three theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Washington. Despite a length of nearly four hours, Columbia’s restored version of “Lawrence” grossed $136,888, an average of nearly $46,000 per screen. In L.A. alone, the film’s did nearly $50,000 in business at one theater. Shows at Century City’s Cineplex Odeon were sold out several hours in advance.

“Rain Man’s” ticket sales jumped about 30% Friday through Sunday after the film received eight Academy Award nominations last week, including best picture, actor (Dustin Hoffman) and director (Barry Levinson). Just the week before, the film’s ticket sales had dipped 17%.

“Mississippi Burning’s” rebound during the same period was even more impressive. Its seven nominations not only helped the film recover from a 30% slide the week before, they also helped boost ticket sales 23% over the weekend.

“Dangerous Liaisons” had experienced an increase in ticket sales before the nominations primarily because its distributor, Warner, was adding more theaters to its release. The film’s seven nominations kicked ticket sales up 29% for three days over the weekend, when only a handful of theaters were added.

“Working Girl” and “The Accidental Tourist” lost theaters before the holiday weekend opened, apparently because of the new competition from films like “The ‘burbs,” which grossed $11.1 million, and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” which came in third place with $6.2 million. Despite that, both Academy Award nominees enjoyed substantial increases in ticket sales, said Krier.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks Movie (Studio) Total(millions) Average in Release 1.”The ‘burbs” $11.1 1,951 1 (Universal) $11.1 $5,690 2.”Rain Man” $6.7 1,590 10 (MGM/UA) $110.6 $4,193 3.”Bill & Ted’s Adventure” $6.2 1,196 1 (Orion) $6.2 $5,156 4.”Three Fugitives” $4.6 1,374 4 (Disney/Touchstone) $26.0 $3,340 5.”The Fly II” $4.3 1,528 2 (Fox) $12.7 $2,829 *”Lawrence of Arabia” $.137 3 3 (Columbia) $.324 $45,629

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.