Tonight is the big Oscar show — beforehand, I thought it might be fun to have a look at some data.

Let’s start with box office numbers — $32 billion in 2010:

>

>

Next, let’s see compare the Oscar for Best Picture and the highest box office gross:

• The Most Popular picture routinely made about twice what the Best Picture took in (with evidence the trend is increasing)

• Many pictures had only men in the lead and no women

• Women over 40 are rare, and over 50 virtually non-existent, while older men show up increasingly frequently

• Best Pictures usually had older actors and actresses than the Most Popular movies

• There were fewer comedies for Oscars, more Action & Adventure for Most Popular flicks

Third, let’s see how when the Best Picture was also the Biggest Box Office — Red dots reflect those years:



Last, let’s see how HSX is forecasting the winners of the Oscars ( as of 5:35 p.m. Friday):

Best picture: “The King’s Speech” at $17.69 per share.

Best director: David Fincher for “The Social Network” ($12.90), in a close contest with Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech” ($11.29).

Best actor: Colin Firth for “The King’s Speech” ($22.01).

Best actress: Natalie Portman for “Black Swan” ($20.31).

Supporting actor: Christian Bale for “The Fighter” ($18.92).

Supporting actress: Melissa Leo for “The Fighter” ($15.47).

Adapted screenplay: “The Social Network” ($17.90).

Original screenplay: “The King’s Speech” ($17.45). Source: MSNBC

>

Related:

The Official Academy Awards Database

Sources:

Piracy once again fails to get in way of record box office

Nate Anderson

Ars Technica, February 25, 2011

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/piracy-once-again-fails-to-get-in-way-of-record-box-office.ars

Oscar Statistics: Money, Men, and Maturity; Plus Our Predictions

William M. Briggs, Statistician to the Stars!

Briggs, February 27, 2011

http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=3513

See also:

Even Harry Potter Pic Loses Money Because Of Warner Bros’ Phony Baloney Net Profit Accounting