Imagine that - winning Best Picture might not make any more money for the film

The winner of the best picture award at Sunday’s Oscars may not get a box office bump for taking home the night’s biggest prize.

It’s part of Hollywood’s evolution. The Covid pandemic and the rise of streaming have fundamentally altered the industry. The result has been a smaller bump in box office at the time of nominations and a significant surge in streaming demand.

From the nominations in late January through Wednesday, this year’s 10 best picture nominees added $82 million in domestic box office sales, $71 million of which came from “Avatar: The Way of Water.” (“The Way of Water” has grossed more than $670 million total in North America.)

For comparison, in 2020, the nominees generated nearly $750 million at the domestic box office after being nominated in mid-January, Comscore data shows. The Oscars were awarded Feb. 9 that year, weeks before Covid was declared a pandemic and shutdowns began.