It has now been one week since Green Book was the surprise (to many) winner of the Best Picture Oscar. The film also won Best Original Screenplay and a Best Supporting Actor trophy for Mahershala Ali; Viggo Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor and the film was also nominated for Best Film Editing.
Green Book felt a box office boost around the world, including at the March 1-3 domestic box office. The film took #5 on this weekend's chart with $4.7 million, according to Box Office Mojo. That was a boost of 121.4% from when it placed #11 last week. It helps that the film played on 1,388 extra screens, to maximize the attention it just got at the Oscars.
Also, apparently China is into it? You never know what China -- the second biggest box office market in the world -- is going to like, but Deadline reports Green Book made $17.1 million there. That reportedly makes it the market's second-highest grossing Best Picture winner behind Titanic.
Green Book saw an "Oscar halo," as Deadline put it, of $31.9 million in 63 markets. At this point, Green Book has made $75,920,611 at the domestic box office and $112,100,000 at the foreign box office for a current combined total of $188,020,611.
Nearly $200 million off a reported production budget of $23 million is not too shabby!
It's also somewhat surprising, considering the controversy surrounding the film for several months. (Then again, it didn't hurt The Upside, so maybe controversy helps.)
In Green Book, Mahershala Ali plays real-life jazz pianist Don Shirley in the 1960s. But Shirley's family reportedly blasted the movie as "full of lies," saying it misrepresented his relationship with his family. They also said Shirley never considered Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) to be his friend, he was simply his employee as a chauffeur.
Actor Viggo Mortensen also faced backlash when he used the n-word during Green Book promotion, and he later apologized for that. The film has faced a lot of criticism for its storytelling, including accusations that it promoted the the white savior trope. So it was seen as ironic that it won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Green Book has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score (79%) since Crash, although it has been a hit with moviegoers (92% Audience Score). The film wasn't considered the frontrunner to win Best Picture going into the 91st annual Academy Awards, but it ended up a huge success for director and co-writer/co-producer Peter Farrelly.
Green Book will probably continue to pick up some decent money at the box office, and maybe crack $200 million as it rides this Oscar wave. As we wait to see where it goes from here, check out all the movies coming to theaters in 2019 in our handy schedule.
