As the Oscar hype fades for another year the winners (and some of the stronger contenders) begin to reap the rewards of being members of the exclusive Oscar winning group.  A few weeks back I talked about the benefits of winning an Oscar: fame, fortune and profits.

As the Oscar hype fades for another year the winners (and some of the stronger contenders) begin to reap the rewards of being members of the exclusive Oscar winning group.  A few weeks back I talked about the benefits of winning an Oscar: fame, fortune and profits.

Since the Academy Awards on February 26^th distribution companies have been licking their lips as box office results prove once again that winning a golden statue really does grow the bottom line.

Winners such as The Artist, A Separation, Undefeated and The Iron Lady all increased their weekly US grosses over the weekend, and while The Descendants lost 36% of its gross, it dropped almost two hundred screens, the film hit the US$80 million mark and will likely end up being the fourth highest grossing Fox Searchlight film ever.

Best Foreign Language Film winner A Separation (which opens here in New Zealand on April 19) has done better than any previous winners in the category, with a 173% surge in US grosses over the weekend. Not bad considering it’s already been in the market for ten weeks. 

As Sony Classics' Michael Barker told Indiewire recently, "This is only the beginning for this film. Discussions and word of mouth occurring in lobbies of theaters around the country following every showing is intense and viral. This movie is a landmark in the history of independent film in the American marketplace."

It might not be an Oscar winner, but Taika Waititi’s delightful Boy opened in the US this weekend. In contrast to A Separation and its 243 screens, Boy initially opened in just 2 New York theatres, and will go on to open in Los Angeles this weekend, and then San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Washington. Good luck to it.

When I was recently discussing the benefits of winning an Oscar I also mentioned the pitfall - the Oscar curse. One of the names I mentioned as an Oscar winner we’ve hardly heard of again was Italian actor Roberto Benigni. No soon had I added the Life is Beautiful director/actor’s name to my list when I read he’s about to make an international comeback in Woody Allen’s new film Nero Fiddled.

Following fast on the heels of the Oscar winning Midnight in Paris (which is now Allen’s highest grossing film ever), Nero Fiddled is set in Rome and as expected features a star studded ensemble cast, including Jesse Eisenberg, Penelope Cruz, Ellen Page, Judy Davis, Alec Baldwin and Allen himself. Rumour has it the film will make its world premiere in May at Cannes, just as Midnight in Paris did last year.

Now the Oscars are over, the spotlight goes on the Cannes Film Festival and another film rumoured to be premiering there is The Place Beyond the Pines by Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance. Cianfrance is working once again with Ryan Gosling, this time with Gosling as a motorcycle stuntman who considers breaking the law to provide for his kid - sounds a bit like Drive 2! It also stars Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Eva Mendes and Ray Liotta.