Hollywood wants to cash in
2004-02-03 08:16
Los Angeles - Hollywood studios have gone into overdrive following last week's Oscar nominations in a bid to turn the prestigious nods for their films into box office dollars.
The annual race by studios to boost ticket sales and to influence Academy Awards voters to pick their movies for cinema's top honours took on added urgency this year after the awards season was cut short by an earlier than usual Oscars ceremony.
"An Oscars nomination can extend and add millions to the box office gross of a film, bringing in anywhere from 10m to 100m extra dollars," awards expert and author Tom O'Neil said.
Movie moguls are now locked in a desperate battle to lure movie-goers into theatres, movie pundits said.
Studios behind nominated films such as Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Cold Mountain are already spending millions on new advertising.
The magic world's "Oscar nominated" have now been added onto hastily prepared movie posters and a plethora of television and radio ads that are already flooding both the industry and mainstream press to woo audiences.
Movies that had in some cases been off US screens for weeks were suddenly making new appearances in cinemas in cities such as Los Angeles and New York in the run-up to the February 29 Oscars ceremony.
"A movie like Seabiscuit will likely earn an additional $20m in the US, while it will help Lost in Translation by at least with $30m," O'Neil said.
New Zealand director Peter Jackson's last fantastic episode of his celluloid version of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books became the Oscars frontrunner when it was nominated for 11 awards, including best picture and best director, more than any other picture.
The New Line Cinema film, which debuted in December, has already racked up more than $350m in ticket sales in the United States and Canada alone.
But the hobbits and ringwraiths of Middle Earth must now do battle with 20th Century Fox's sea-faring odyssey Master and Commander, which won 10 nods including best picture and best director for Australian Peter Weir, although it failed to secure its star Russell Crowe a mention.
The film, released in November, will be back on 1 800 North American screens by next weekend.
Also in competition is Miramax's American Civil War epic Cold Mountain, which picked up seven nods including best actor for Jude Law and best supporting actress for Renee Zellweger, but left co-star Nicole Kidman and director Anthony Minghella out in the cold.
Universal Studios' horse-racing story Seabiscuit starring Tobey Maguire, was also nominated for seven awards, including best picture.
And Warner Bros' crime drama Mystic River, from Warner Bros, is vying for six awards including best picture, best director for Clint Eastwood, best actor for Sean Penn, best supporting actor for Tim Robbins and best supporting actress for Marcia Hay Harden.
Facing off against the titans are smaller, often independently produced movies that are being distributed by smaller studios, such as Brazilian drama City of God which has four nods, and Focus Features' Lost in Translation, which also has four, including best picture and best director for Sofia Coppola.
Newcomer Newmarket got a double boost when the 13-year-old star of its Whale Rider, Keisha Castle-Hughes, became the youngest ever best actress nominee, and when its Monster also won a best actress nod for South African Charlize Theron.
But this year, the studios face a new challenge - the gap between the nominations and the Oscars ceremony has been shortened to just 33 days from around six weeks in previous years.
The change appeared to catch some of the big studios - which traditionally release their Oscar hopefuls in the last days of December to draw the attention of Academy voters - off guard.
The earlier-than-usual nominations appear to have disfavoured late December releases such as Cold Mountain which reaped a disappointing Oscars haul, possibly because Oscar voters did not have time to see them.
"The shortness of the Oscar season means less money for everyone," O'Neil said.