More Bad News

I’d say blame it on the economy, but also consumers scared off of spending their loot on anything right now. But Variety’s Pamela McClintock reports that the Oscar bump ain’t what it used to be:

While sustaining their target auds, Oscar best-pic contenders “Milk” and “The Reader” did not gain B.O. momentum as they expanded nationwide over the weekend.

“Frost/Nixon” saw similar results when it went wide a week earlier.

So far, the three pics aren’t seeing the kind of B.O. bump that specialty films have often enjoyed — and banked on — after landing a spot in Oscar’s coveted category.

All three titles have watched most of the Oscar spoils so far go to Fox Searchlight’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” which was the only Oscar nominee to land in the weekend’s top 10. Placing No. 6, the pic declined 28% to an estimated $7.7 million from 1,633 runs for a cume of $67.2 million in its second sesh in nationwide release.