Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar winner for Best Picture in 2008 was not a summer blockbuster.  Nor were any of the other nominees in that category.  But they all had a couple of things in common: they were primarily advertised in the second half of the year with a concentration in the fourth quarter, and they were all released in the months of November and December.  So while the summer blockbusters get a great deal of attention, it is those films that are released – and tend to advertise – during …

2008 advertising expenditures for this year’s Best Film nominees:

RANK
FILM
EXPENDITURES (millions)

1
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
$31.0

2
Milk
$11.3

3
Frost/Nixon
$11.3

4
Slumdog Millionaire
$6.1

5
The Reader
$4.6

source: The Nielsen Company 2009NOTE: Figures do not include Internet or Outdoor ad expenditures

Do Academy Award nominations impact the distribution and ticket sales of nominated movies? Nielsen EDI compared the number of theaters showing each movie and ticket sales before and after the nominations were announced on January 22 and found significant increases in most cases.
With the exception of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, each of the Best Film nominees saw triple-digit percentage increases in theater count after they were nominated. The increased distribution of these films also led to box office sales increases anywhere from 18% to 72% in the …

For the second week in a row, the Kevin James comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” led the box office with $21.6M in earnings. Newcomer “Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans” clawed to second with $20.8M. Oscar nominees for best picture were reward with a box office surge as “Slumdog Millionaire” pulled in $3.6M more than last week, and “Benjamin Button” turned back the clock with a return into the top 10, bringing in more than $6M the weekend after nominations were announced.

RANK
Title
Studio
Weekend Gross
Jan 19-25
Total Gross
Thru Jan …

The Kevin James comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” secured the top spot of the weekend box office with a $39.2 million take. Last week’s box office champ, Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” pulled into second with $25.6 milloin, edging out the third-place, 3D thriller “My Bloody Valentine” at $24.1 million. Following its Golden Globe wins, “Slumdog Millionaire” returned to the top 10, pulling in more than $7 million for the weekend.

RANK
Title
Studio
Weekend Gross
Jan 16-18
Total Gross
Thru Jan 18

1
PAUL BLART: MALL COP
SONY PICTURES
$39,234,238
$39,234,238

2
GRAN TORINO
WARNER BROS.
$25,606,399
$76,603,810

3
MY BLOODY VALENTINE
LIONSGATE
$24,103,962
$24,103,962

4
NOTORIOUS
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
$23,393,472
$23,393,472

5
HOTEL FOR …

Sunday’s broadcast of the 2009 Golden Globe Awards, which featured wins by the TV show “30 Rock,” the film “Slumdog Millionaire,” actor Mickey Rourke, and actress Kate Winslet, drew nearly 14.9 million U.S. viewers.
By comparison, the 2004 Golden Globes drew the largest U.S. television audience (26.8 million viewers) of any Golden Globes telecast in the past 10 years.
Last year’s Golden Globe Awards – aired as a one-hour press conference, due to an ongoing “writers’ strike” – drew just over 6 million viewers.
View Golden Globes TV ratings from 1998 to 2008, below.