A Best Picture Oscar Campaign Costs Millions, But Gains the Winner Almost Nothing at the Box Office

Every year, Hollywood spends millions chasing little gold men.

The Academy Award is the film industry’s highest honor — unless you’re the box office, in which case it’s a trivial pursuit.

IndieWire surveyed 89 years of winners and nominees, and discovered that in the last two decades, the top-grossing film corresponded with the Best Picture winner exactly once, with “The Lord of the Rings” in 2003.

(Before that, odds were substantially better; it happened more than 25% of the time.)Similarly, until recently almost every Best Picture winner was one of the year’s top 20 grossers; in the last seven years, only one winner can claim that bragging right: 2011 Best Picture winner “The King’s Speech,” which earned $135 million and a #18 slot.

Other placements range from #22 (2013 winner “Argo,” $136 million) to #92 (2017 winner “Moonlight,” $27.5 million).Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best PictureThis year has only a slim shot of improving those odds.

Among the nine 2018 Best Picture nominees,

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