# which years had the closest correlation between box office and Oscar nominations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-years-had-the-closest-correlation-between-box-office-and-oscar-nominations/840043 "2019-09-11T15:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-years-had-the-closest-correlation-between-box-office-and-oscar-nominations/840043/1 "2019-09-11T15:18:41Z")
What years did the top box office movies and the nominees for Best Picture line up the closest? (I know the lists of both is out there, I’m just not a number cruncher). And do you think there’s any significance to those years? Was the public more interested in quality films? Did the Academy recognize the value of popular work? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-years-had-the-closest-correlation-between-box-office-and-oscar-nominations/840043/2 "2019-09-11T16:06:49Z")
To get things started, I did a quick search for years when the top grossing film won the Best Picture Oscar. 1929: The Broadway Melody 1933: Cavalcade 1935: Mutiny on the Bounty 1939: Gone with the Wind 1940: Rebecca 1942: Mrs. Miniver 1944: Going My Way 1952: The Greatest Show on Earth 1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai 1959: Ben-Hur 1961: West Side Story 1962: Lawrence of Arabia 1964: My Fair Lady 1965: The Sound of Music 1972: The Godfather 1973: The Sting 1976: Rocky 1979: Kramer vs Kramer 1988: Rain Man 1997: Titanic 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-years-had-the-closest-correlation-between-box-office-and-oscar-nominations/840043/3 "2019-09-11T16:15:36Z")
(Forrest Gump also won and was the highest grossing film in 1994.) Probably 1982. (Lists of best picture nominees where most were in the top 20 highest grossing domestic films of the year. The number before each title is their box office yearly ranking. I’ve only included the higher ranking nominees.) 1982: 1 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $329,397,487 2 Tootsie Col. $100,768,069 11 The Verdict Fox $39,691,104 12 Gandhi Col. $11,861,444 1991: 3 Beauty and the Beast BV $145,863,363 4 The Silence of the Lambs Orion $130,742,922 16 The Prince of Tides Col. $59,335,243 17 JFK WB $58,112,996 1997: 1 Titanic Par. $338,710,764 6 As Good as It Gets Sony $92,637,620 7 Good Will Hunting Mira. $68,865,287 24 L.A. Confidential WB $39,738,569 2000: 4 Gladiator DW $186,610,052 12 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon $128,078,872 12/08 13 Erin Brockovich Uni. $125,595,205 15 Traffic USA $71,208,084 2010 (ten nominees) 1 Toy Story 3 BV $415,004,880 6 Inception WB $292,576,195 13 True Grit Par. $138,507,277 18 The King’s Speech Wein. $135,453,143 11/26 ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-years-had-the-closest-correlation-between-box-office-and-oscar-nominations/840043/4 "2019-09-12T04:04:33Z")
Are you kidding? 1939 If you normalized the movie attendance by looking at market penetration, it is 1939. Period. Take the total number of tickets sold, divide by the population of this country. Now graph that for all years for all Oscar contenders. …and Bob’s yer uncle, there is your answer.