It wasn’t just Oprah Winfrey‘s “Selma” and the late-Roger Ebert who felt Oscar’s snub after Thursday morning’s announcement of this year’s Oscar Nominations, so too did all of mainstream America. Other than director Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper,” which is expected to be the biggest box office hit of his storied career, the seven other nominations range from domestic box office under-performers to outright bombs:
Birdman – $26.5 million, despite being in wide release for two months.
Boyhood – $24.3 million, despite a wide release way back in August.
The Grand Budapest Hotel – $59 million, despite a wide release in over the summer.
The Imitation Game – $42 million, despite a wide release more than 6 weeks ago.
Selma – $15 million to date. Box Office Mojo predicts a best-case scenario of only $50 million.
The Theory of Everything – $26 million, despite a wide release 7 weeks ago.
Whiplash – $6 million, which hasn’t even earned a release beyond 419 theatres.
Incredibly, the box office for these 7 films totals only around $200 million. Except for “Selma,” they are all played out. “Selma” might bring the total to $230 million.
Well-reviewed box office hits snubbed in favor of movies almost no one will ever see include, Gone Girl, Interstellar, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 22 Jump Street, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Noah, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
I can tell you for a fact that most of those titles are objectively better movies than Selma, Boyhood, and Grand Budapest Hotel.
Instead of any sign of populism or mainstream sensibility in this year’s Best Picture nominations, we get another roster of provincial, elite, foo-foo close-mindedness.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC