Business

Boffo box office: Best-pic nominees raked in big bucks

Harvey Weinstein’s (above) namesake studio bought an infomercial on WPIX 11 for $50,000 to promote its Best Picture nominee “Silver Linings Playbook,” which stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

Harvey Weinstein’s (above) namesake studio bought an infomercial on WPIX 11 for $50,000 to promote its Best Picture nominee “Silver Linings Playbook,” which stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. (AP)

It’s a common gripe on Oscar night. Every year, the winner for best picture is announced to great fanfare while most of the public has never even heard of it.

This year is different from past award seasons, when the Academy seemed almost allergic to commercial appeal. Not only are most of the best picture nominees recognizable, they have experienced box-office success.

Six of the nine best picture nominees have taken in more than $100 million at the domestic box office. DreamWorks’ “Lincoln” tops the list, with $176.8 million, followed by the Weinstein Cos.’ “Django Unchained,” which banked $157.5 million, and Universal’s “Les Misérables,” with $145.8 million.

Warner’s “Argo,” Twentieth Century Fox’s “Life of Pi” and Weinstein’s “Silver Linings Playbook” all broke the $100 million mark. Sony’s “Zero Dark Thirty” wasn’t far behind, with $88.7 million, according to BoxofficeMojo.

“These numbers are phenomenal,” said one veteran marketer. “People have actually seen these movies and that’s good for the Academy.”

By comparison, last year’s best picture winner, Weinstein’s “The Artist,” rang up $44 million. Summit’s “Hurt Locker,” which took top honors in 2010, bagged just $17 million.

While a win won’t produce much more in the way of box-office revenue since most movies are at the end of their theatrical run, the value of the gold statuette lies in boosting the value of the owner’s film library.

The commercial success also bodes well for the TV broadcast on ABC this Sunday. Last year, the telecast, with Billy Crystal as host, drew 39.3 million viewers.

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President Obama and Mitt Romney have nothing on Oscar.

With the race for best picture thisclose, the studios have launched a marketing assault on the 5,800 Academy voters, resulting in one of the priciest campaigns on record.

One veteran voter likened the Oscar onslaught to living in a swing state during a presidential election.

“Based on frequency, I’d say Warner and Sony have spent the most,” said one source close to the Oscars.

Warner is behind Ben Affleck’s Iranian hostage drama “Argo,” while Sony backed “Zero Dark Thirty,” about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

One estimate had Warner spending in the ballpark of $18 million — much of it on an endless round of Hollywood parties to fete director and actor Affleck and producer George Clooney.

“Warner [usually] sucks at awards campaigns,” said one Tinseltown veteran. “This year they’re going all out.”

At Warner, where home entertainment chief Kevin Tsujihara is about to take over the top spot, Oscar marketing specialist Michele Robertson is working with consultant Judi Schwam.

In recent years, belt-tightening has kept a lid on Oscar spending, with a typical studio springing around $10 million each season.

This year, the Hollywood studios have been throwing big bucks at media outlets in New York and Los Angeles, and also in the UK, where the BAFTA awards have some influence on Oscar voters.

Weinstein, for instance, bought an infomercial on WPIX 11 in New York for around $50,000 to tell the story of “Silver Linings Playbook.”