Sandra Bullock is better than Julia Roberts & Angelina Jolie

I was recently reading an article about the possibility of Sandra Bullock being nominated for the Best Actress Oscar this year, and it suddenly occurred to me – if Sandra does get nominated (for her work in The Blind Side), she has a really good chance of winning because of the Julia Roberts factor. Meaning, the Academy waited until the perfect moment, the perfect role and the perfect box office success to reward Julia Roberts with her 2001 Oscar for Erin Brockovich. And the exact same thing might happen for Sandra – with The Blind Side being only the latest in a long line of hit films, America’s other sweetheart might take home a little gold man just because it’s her turn and because she’s a fan favorite. I’m sure her performance is good too – I’m not saying she’s hasn’t turned in an Oscar-worthy performance, I’m just saying that the politics and money part of the equation is lining up perfectly for Bullock to have a Julia Roberts-esque Oscar moment.

Anyway, it’s something to keep in mind. I think there’s a very good chance Bullock could walk away with an Oscar, and this story from Variety only reinforces that opinion. Apparently, Bullock has done something Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie and Reese Witherspoon failed to accomplish time and time again: earn $200 million in the domestic American box office! Hollywood loves rewarding actors who reward Hollywood:

Sandra Bullock rang in the new year making box office history. Some time over the weekend, Bullock starrer “The Blind Side” became the first pic in history driven solely by a top female star to jump the $200 million mark at the domestic B.O.

To be precise, the film finished the frame with a cume of $208.5 million in its seventh week in release. Over the weekend, it rose a remarkable 10% over the previous week, and it’s still got plenty of life left, according to Warner Bros. prexy of domestic distribution Dan Fellman.

“Blind Side” was fully financed and produced by Alcon Entertainment. The project was brought in by Molly Smith, daughter of Alcon backer Fred Smith, founder of FedEx.

It’s hard to believe, but none of the previous films in which Bullock had top solo billing had reached $200 million, nor have any of the solo starring efforts of the likes of Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie or Reese Witherspoon. But indeed, none had, according to Fellman and other box office observers.

Roberts’ “Erin Brockovich” — the film most often compared with “Blind Side” — grossed $125.6 million domestically. Streep’s “The Devil Wears Prada” fashioned $124.7 million at the domestic B.O.

The only femme-driven film that jumped $200 million domestically was romantic comedy “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the 2002 indie hit starring then-unknown Nia Vardalos and “Northern Exposure” star John Corbett, which earned $241.1 million domestically.

Bullock’s accomplishment is part of a gender revolution at the domestic box office. Until recent hits like the “Twilight” pics and “Sex and the City,” Hollywood studios thought only fanboys could generate big grosses, not femmes. (At the same time, it’s not lost on distribs that the top-grossing film of all time, James Cameron’s “Titanic,” was probably fueled by women who saw the movie numerous times.)

Some femme-driven films have found more love overseas. Musical “Mamma Mia!,” with a cast led by Streep, grossed $144.1 million domestically and a massive $465.7 million overseas. (Pic is Streep’s top grosser at the domestic B.O.).

Romantic comedies have long been a studio staple domestically, but even the more successful ones usually generate grosses in the $100 million-$130 million range. Roberts’ “Pretty Woman” scored a bit higher, with an estimated $178.4 million domestically.

Bullock had an exceptionally successful year — except for the little-seen “All About Steve” — with another box office hit in “The Proposal.” Bullock starred opposite Ryan Reynolds in the romantic comedy, which grossed $164 million domestically.

“And we’re not even done. I think ‘Blind Side’ has another $30 million left,” Fellman said.

In all, Bullock’s films have grossed north of $1.72 billion domestically. That compares with $2.31 billion for Roberts, $1.54 billion for Streep and $1.44 billion for Jolie. Any way you look at it, it’s not bad company.

[From Variety]

It’s kind of startling to hear that neither Angelina nor Julia have gotten to the $200 million domestic mark in their own star-driven films, but that just goes to show you what huge international stars Julia and Angelina are – most of the money their films make comes from overseas box offices. I think producers of The Blind Side are so happy with the domestic haul for the film because a film driven by an American football story line won’t really resonate overseas, considering American football is mostly popular in America, not other countries. Which might be another factor in Bullock’s probably Oscar nomination and win – she’s America’s sweetheart, she’s starring in a movie about America’s favorite sport, and the majority of Academy voters are American. In any case, well done Sandra!

Sandra Bullock in promotional images from ‘The Blind Side’ courtesy of WENN.

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