As of January 31, 2013, the nine best picture nominees, totaling about 108 weeks of release, had grossed $1.685 billion worldwide.
The five vfx (Special Visual Effects) nominees, totaling about 70 weeks of release, had grossed more than twice as much: $3.782 billion.
“The Avengers” alone had grossed almost as much as all best picture nominees combined but even the other four vfx nominees outgross all nine picture nominees.
“Life of Pi” is by far the highest-grossing picture nominee, with $530 million in just 11 weeks of release. Probably not coincidentally, it’s the only picture nominated in both categories.
Other titles to be nominated in both in recent years include some of your most popular and talked-about movis, such as “Avatar,” “Inception,” “District 9,” “Titanic,” “Babe” and “Forrest Gump.”
If you take a look at the box office leaders for 2012, the vast majority of the top 100 are CG-heavy: either animated or laden with visual effects. Even “Lincoln” uses digital set extensions and environments.