Oscar bounce at B.O. for many?

The Oscar spotlight could boost several challengers in the box office. It better: The category of 2011 includes some comparative underachievers. To date, the nine best-pic hopefuls have gained $1 billion in the box office, during each one of the previous 2 yrs, just one film eventually passed the $1 billion mark: "Toy Story 3" entered that threshold this year, while 2009's "Avatar" eventually made $2.78 billion in the global box office. Where one of many best picture Oscar nomineeswas this area office behemoth that's become an Oscar staple recently? Their email list of nominees are a mixture of pix presently in the box office, including "The Artist" and "The Descendants" -- the likeliest B.O. receivers, together with "Very Noisy and extremely Close" -- and flicks already launched on homevid, for example "The Assistance,Inch "Night time in Paris" and "Moneyball." Disney-DreamWorks' "The AssistanceInch may be the greatest grosser from the bunch, with $205 million worldwide. That's absolutely nothing to sneeze at, but nonetheless far in the global hauls of 2011's greatest-grossing pair, "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part 2" and "Transformers: Dark from the Moon," each of which gained three bids each. "The AssistanceInch and Oscar's second-greatest grossing pic nominee this season, The new sony Pictures Classics' "Night time in Paris," will not see a theatrical boost, though VOD and DVD rental fees and purchasers could spike. Other pic nominees competing for attention at home audiences include Sony's "Moneyball" and Fox Searchlight's "The Tree of Existence." For individuals photos still in play theatrically, an Oscar nom can prompt distribs to change their release methods. Last week, the Weinstein Co. broadened "The Artist" to a lot more than 600 locations, lifting the pic's Stateside total just north of $12 million. Warners also went wide with "Very Noisy" for any domestic cume of $10.7 million through Sunday. "The Descendants" -Body of Searchlight's two nominees for the best picture -- has totalled $51.3 million locally. Based on online ticketing site Fandango, "The Artist" saw a 190% uptick in Tuesday's ticket sales versus. the day before, while "The Descendants" saw a 65% increase. Both of them are likely to expand Friday to roughly 900 locations each. While Paramount's "Hugo" obtained probably the most nominations at 11, including best picture and director, the film, launched November. 23, has cumed a lukewarm $86.5 million worldwide. "Hugo" grows a few days ago to 944 domestic locations, up from 650. Disney-DreamWorks' "War Equine," with six noms, has seen $75 million Stateside but still is playing at a lot more than 2,500 locations. For films outdoors the very best picture race, Oscar's effect on a film's B.O. can differ broadly. Focus Features' "Mess Tailor Soldier Spy" has seen solid totals around the niche front. Pic's three Oscar bids, including best actor for Gary Oldman and modified script, should bolster a Stateside run approaching $20 million. "The Lady Using the Dragon Tattoo," which The new sony launched over Christmas, should mix $100 million locally a few days ago. Pic snapped up five noms including actress for Rooney Mara. Kerbside Attractions' "Albert Nobbs" opens limited on Friday. Par's animated-feature contender "Rango" relaunches for any one-week engagement in the ArcLight Hollywood. "Rango" first opened up locally on March 4 and it has cumed a lot more than $240 million worldwide. Pic has arrived at roughly $23 million in homevid sales since starting This summer 15. Also within the toon area, GKids' "Chico and Rita" bows February. 10 in NY and can expand into March. Meanwhile, GKids' second feature toon nominee, "The Cat in Paris," is slated for any mid-2012 release. One of the foreign-language nominees, The new sony Pictures Classics' "A Separation," which won the same trophy in the Golden Globes, may be the category's only nominee to possess been launched within the U.S. to date. In four days, the film has totalled around $541,000. The new sony Classics' other foreign-lingo challengers, "In Darkness" and "Footnote," are going to bow February. 10 and March 9, correspondingly. "Bullhead," distribbed by Drafthouse Films, launches April 27 Music Box's "Monsieur Lazhar" will also bow early in the year. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com