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Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic, Oppenheimer, which is leading the list of Oscar nominations, is this year's biggest spender on national TV advertisements. Among all 10 films nominated in the Best Picture category, Oppenheimer was the one film that spent a terrific amount on ads.
Data from TV and streaming ad measurement firm iSpot estimated that the Nolan biopic spent $25.7 million on national TV media from January 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024. This was a small price to pay for a movie that is leading in critical and commercial success by garnering around $958 million at the box office worldwide.
Will paying for national ads help Oppenheimer succeed in bagging the coveted Academy Award?
If we see wins from previous years, the amount of money spent on movie marketing on traditional TV networks has not been a good predictor of which film will win the Academy Awards. The best picture winner of 2023, Everything Everywhere All At Once from A24, did not air any ads on national linear TV. In 2022, Apple TV spent less than $7 million to promote CODA, which won best picture that year. It is too early yet to tell whether Oppenheimer's success at the 2024 Oscars is guaranteed.
Oppenheimer ranks number six among movies that spent on ads for national TV over the past year. Topping Oppenheimer is Universal’s Fast X, which spent $32.5 million; followed by The Flash, which spent $32.1 million. The list includes Migration, which spent $31.8 million; The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which spent $29.8 million; and Amazon Studios’ Air, which spent $29.4 million on national TV ad spending.
Other movies spending on national TV ads this Oscar season
Lining up after Oppenheimer, the next biggest spender on TV ad budget among this year’s Oscars nominees for Best Picture is Apple TV's Killers of the Flower Moon from Martin Scorsese. The movie spent $17.8 million on national TV media, according to iSpot. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which bagged $1.44 billion in global box office receipts, is estimated to have spent $9.6 million on national TV ads.
The Holdovers, American Fiction, Poor Things, and Maestro follow soon after Barbie in national TV media value. They are estimated to have spent between $4 million and $6 million for promotion, according to iSpot.
There are some best picture nominees for the Oscars this year that did not spend on advertising on national linear TV in the U.S. at all. Past Lives, The Zone of Interest, and Anatomy of a Fall are reported to have not spent anything on national TV ads. These three films also had minimal TV ad impressions on streaming platforms, as per reports from iSpot.
When is the Oscars 2024?
The 96th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for this Sunday, March 10, 2024, in L.A., and it will be broadcast by ABC from 4 p.m. PT or 7 p.m. ET. For those without a cable connection, Oscars 2024 can also be watched on the ABC website, app, and streaming services. This year's Oscars will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
Watch this space to learn who takes away the Best Picture award at the Oscars 2024.
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