And the Oscar goes to...

Upon the announcement of the Oscars winners, our local movie theater rereleased three of the most nominated/winning films: Gravity, Dallas Buyers Club, and 12-Years A Slave. All of these films have been out of theaters for about three months, so this got me wondering. How much do Oscar’s nominations increase the amount of money a film makes?

I found the answer in a article entitled Oscar for “Best Picture” Worth Its Weight In Gold (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/oscar-best-picture-worth-138-million-box-office/story?id=22668321). It showed that two of the most nominated films, Gravity (originally released in Oct. 2013) and Best Picture winner, 12-Years­ A Slave increase their sales by an extraordinary rate the week after nominations (Gravity increased 358% and 12-Years­ A Slave increased 415%).

Studios typically try to capitalize on the awards buzz by releasing their films into more theaters. Gravity rereleased in over 800% more theaters after its 10 nominations were announced. But other films, Wolf of Wall Street, Her, and Philomena reduced the amount of theaters in which they were playing. This also ties into the films original film dates. American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street both released during the prime Oscar nomination time, Christmas. Though, because they were originally released so close to the Oscar announcements, and there was already a buzz around these films before their release, the nominations did nothing for their sales

I will admit, I personally fell for the rerelease tactic, watching Gravity in 3D on the big screen and I am so glad I did. That film should be watched in no other way and, in my opinion, was extremely deserving for every Oscar in won.