5 Latest Signs Box Office Doesn’t Matter for Oscars

Do you get how the Oscars-box office nexus works now?

An Academy Award can help a movie at the box office, but the converse is definitely not true, and Thursday’s nominations prove it.

Here are 5 signs that Oscar voters don’t read the Monday-morning trades as much as everyone else in Hollywood.

Also Read: 5 Reasons 'Star Wars' Didn't Get a Best Picture Nomination

1. J.J. Abrams‘ blockbuster “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the top-grossing film in U.S. history, doesn’t get a Best Picture nomination. A24’s “Room,” which has made about $5 million and has yet to play in 200 theaters, does.

2. Only one of last year’s 10 top-grossing movies made the Best Picture list: “The Martian,” which came in at No. 8 at the box office for the year with $227 million.

3. Actors in hit movies fare don’t fare any better with the Academy, it seems. Although “The Martian” star Matt Damon secured a Best Actor nod, the top-grossing film to produce a nominee in either of the actress categories was 2015’s No. 55 grosser, the Jennifer Lawrence dramedy “Joy,” which has earned just $48 million.

Also Read: Netflix, Amazon Strike Out in Hunt for Major Oscar Nods

4. Last year, Universal Pictures had the highest domestic, foreign and worldwide box office totals that any studio has ever had. But the studio mustered just four nominations: two for the actors in “Steve Jobs,” one for the screenplay for “Straight Outta Compton” and one for the song from “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The studio’s biggest hits — “Jurassic World,” “Furious 7” and “Minions” — were completely shut out, even in the technical and animated feature categories.

5. Even Warner Bros., which had a notable slump at the box office in 2015, still managed to secure 11 nominations, including 10 for “Mad Max: Fury Road.”