March 4, 2007–Fox Searchlight’s “The Last King of Scotland,” for which Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor Oscar, benefited immensely at the box-office, rising 24%. The film made $975,000 off 517 screen, with a cumulative of $16.7 million to date.
But that picture is one of the few Oscar winners to continue expanding. While Searchlight added 183 runs over the frame to “Last King’s” release, other Oscar favorites, such as “Dreamgirls” or “Pan’s Labyrinth,” witnessed decline.
Warners’ Clint Eastwood-helmed war epic “Letters from Iwo Jima,” which lost out in the Best Picture race to Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed,” dropped a sharp 66%. The subtitled film has cumed $13.3 million to date. It is still playing 285 locations, after dropping 245 theaters in its most recent frame.
Miramax’s “The Queen,” for which Helen Mirren won Best Actress Oscar, lost 17% in ticket sales, and also dropped 117 theaters to a total of 545. In release for over five months, the movie has grossed $54.2 million after 23 weeks.
The rest of the Best Picture nominees, including “The Departed,” “Babel” and “Little Miss Sunshine,” have already entered their DVD releases.
Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Lives of Others,” which won the the Oscar for Best Foreign- language film, made $807,599 off 122 over the weekend. The German movie held a healthy per-screen average of $7,211 and has cumed $2.3 million after one month in theaters.