Though the awards season box office hit a six-year low, Fox Searchlight’s “The Shape of Water” has remained a quietly consistent moneymaker since its December release. Now the film has walked away with four Oscars, including Best Picture, giving it a chance for one last burst of cash at movie theaters in the next couple weeks.
So far, “Shape of Water” has grossed $126.8 million worldwide, including $57.4 million domestically. While that only ranks 64th among all movies released last year, “Shape of Water” is the highest grossing Best Picture winner since 2014, when “12 Years A Slave” grossed $187.7 million globally.
From Dec. 1 to nomination day on Jan. 23, “Shape of Water” grossed $30 million from an audience that skewed younger. After nominations, while several other nominees saw their returns tail off, “Shape of Water” nearly matched its pre-nominations total with $27 million grossed from nomination day to Oscar Sunday.
This was thanks to an influx of older moviegoers intrigued by the film’s status as this year’s nominations leader with 13. According to data from movie analytics group Movio, the proportion of moviegoers over the age of 50 going to see “Shape of Water” increased by 23 percent after nomination day.
Fox Searchlight tells TheWrap that they will expand the film’s screen count this coming weekend to at least 1,350 screens this weekend. It’s highest grossing frame came the weekend after nominations day, when it made just shy of $6 million from 1,850 screens. By that pace, analysts tell TheWrap they expect the film to make $4-5 million over this coming week, bringing its domestic total to around $62 million, with a finish over $65 million very likely.
“‘Shape of Water’ is also now out on digital release and will be on Blu-Ray next week, so we will see the film get a boost from both theatrical and home sales,” said comScore’s Paul Dergarabedian. “Some people will prefer to stream it at home, but like all of Guillermo Del Toro’s movies, this is one that really deserves to be seen in theaters, so that might have some appeal for those who haven’t seen it yet.”