Indignity after indignity continues to pile on producer Oprah Winfrey’s dishonest Civil Rights drama “Selma.” On top of countless award season snubs, audiences are staying away in droves. After 5 weeks in release and a ton of publicity (both good and bad), “Selma” sits at a measly $39.5 million. And unlike every other film nominated for Best Picture, “Selma” continues to sink rather than soar.
“Selma” suffered this same audience snub the weekend directly after the nominations for Best Picture were announced. And it happened again this weekend.
According to Deadline, two weekends after a Best Picture nomination, “Selma” was pulled from -189 theatres and dropped -37% at the box office.
By comparison, after 9 weeks in release, “The Imitation Game” opened on +414 more screens and only saw a box office loss of just -3%.
Five other Best Pic nominees boosted their audience this weekend, some by triple digits:
“Birdman” added +362 theaters and saw its box office bounce +20%; current gross: $31 million.
“The Theory of Everything” added +346 theaters and bounced +32%; current gross: $29 million.
“Whiplash” added +378 theaters and saw its box office increase +120%; current gross: $7.6 million
Even “Boyhood,” which is 3 hours long (and nowhere near as good as “Selma”) and has been available on home video for weeks, added +64 theaters and enjoyed a +3% box office boost; current gross: $25 million.
The only nominee absent completely from theatres is the unwatchable “Grand Budapest Hotel,” which was release nearly a year ago and grossed $59 million.
“American Sniper,” a film that celebrates God, family, America, and our warriors, grossed more in its opening weekend than any of its Best Picture competition will in their lifetimes.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC