This weekend, the Oscars will celebrate the best in film, and those statuettes don't come cheap. With that in mind, we've compiled some interesting facts about the money behind the movies: Their biggest winners, their saddest losers, and just how much an Academy Award is worth.
This year's Academy Awards will see the return of a long-lost cinematic legend: the "Pardon Me" commercials for Grey Poupon mustard. In the updated version of the ad, we'll finally get to see what happens after the old man in the Rolls-Royce gets his hands on the desired condiment.
Much like the Super Bowl, the Oscar broadcast is also becoming as much about the commercials as it is about the big show. And thanks to the popularity of the Best Picture nominees this year, advertisers are likely to have an even bigger audience than 2010's 41.3 million viewers.
J.C. Penney hasn't even launched its new logo yet, but the critics aren't wasting any time in trashing it. Why do companies repackage themselves -- and what happens when customers don't like the new look? Just ask Gap or Tropicana, both of which quickly reverted to what they had previously.
Usually, the Oscars highlight the chasm between Hollywood's elite and average Americans. But, says one movie critic: "This is one of the rare years when critics and paying audiences backed the nominees." Also notable in 2011 is a youth movement in the nominees -- and the show's hosts.
Even though the Academy Awards banned official swag bags four years ago (thanks to an IRS decree that actors must pay taxes on the gifts), companies still scramble to get their items into the luxury-laden gift baskets.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has accomplished just want it wanted to by expanding its Best Picture category to 10 nominees: creating space for deserving movies that would have been ignored in the past.
