Oscars at the Box Office: How far ahead is 'American Sniper'?

Money isn’t everything, but it certainly talks in Hollywood. What makes the Oscars interesting is how green plays into it - or rather, how Hollywood likes to pretend it doesn’t.

On one hand, the industry only likes to make big-budget blockbusters to pull in audiences during the summer. On the other hand, the industry only seems to honor movies that don’t make the big bucks. Sure, the up-to-10 Best Picture nominees rule was instituted in 2009 to help fix that, but it hasn’t worked, especially this year.

Since that rule was put into place, 2014 is the first year to only have eight nominees. Previously, there had all been nine nominees, so by default if this year didn’t have a blockbuster, the box office total was going to be less. But there was only one honoree this year that made at least $100 million, and that was all after the Oscar nominations were announced.

Before the nominees came out on Jan. 15, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper was only in four theaters. The day after, Warner Bros. opened it nationwide and it exploded. It’s now up to $308.8 million, making it by far the top-grossing Best Picture nominee. It’s chances at winning are fairly slim, but it is probably the only one that has a shot to surprise us.

Surprisingly, the second-highest grossing nominee is The Imitation Game, proving that audiences really love seeing Benedict Cumberbatch. The story of Alan Turing isn’t exactly something we think American audiences would rush to see, but it has already made $81 million. It’s the year’s top-grossing indie movie.

The movies that are expected to win Best Picture were also big indie hits. Birdman, released by Fox Searchlight, reached $36.8 million. IFC’s Boyhood grossed $25.2 million during its summer release.

So far, the eight nominees have grossed just $603.7 million, according to Box Office Mojo data. That’s a significant decrease from 2013, when the nominees made a combined $813.1 million. However, it’s worth noting that it’s not that much less than the total gross before last year’s nominations were announced. Before the nominations, the films made a combined $645.2 million. Only three of them (Gravity, American Hustle and Captain Phillips) were over $100 million.

Another problem the 2014 Oscar class faces is that it doesn’t stand much of a chance at beefing up its grosses after the ceremony. So many of these movies have already finished their theatrical runs. The Grand Budapest Hotel (the highest-grossing nominee before the nominations were announced), Birdman, Boyhood and The Theory of Everything are already on home video. Whiplash hits Blu-ray on Tuesday. Sniper is really the only movie that could add even more to its amazing run.

Even though the Oscars are about honoring the art of filmmaking, the money of the industry is still fascinating to comb over. The lack of blockbusters nominated this year could have an impact on the show’s ratings. But then again, Sniper has become such a mainstream culture touchstone that it could be enough to get anyone to watch.

Check out the full list of nominees and our reviews here. Here’s our predictions on who will win Best Picture.

The Oscars are on Sunday.

Here's the Best Picture nominees by gross:

1. American Sniper - $308.8 million
2. The Imitation Game - $81 million
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel - $59.1 million
4. Selma - $48.7 million
5. Birdman - $36.8 million
6. The Theory of Everything - $33.5 million
7. Boyhood - $25.2 million
8. Whiplash - $10.5 million

image of Bradley Cooper courtesy of INFphoto.com