Is there any correlation between the number of nominations and the number of Oscars among the Best Picture nominees Not really. “Gladiator” was nominated for 12 but won 5; “Last Emperor” won 9 Oscars out of 9 nominations; “Silence of the Lambs” received only 7 nods but won 5, all in major categories. With few exceptions, most Best Pictures tend to win around 5-7 Oscars.

Is there any correlation between the number of nominations and the number of Oscars among the Best Picture nominees Not really. “Gladiator” was nominated for 12 but won 5; “Last Emperor” won 9 Oscars out of 9 nominations; “Silence of the Lambs” received only 7 nods but won 5, all in major categories. With few exceptions, most Best Pictures tend to win around 5-7 Oscars.

What's the best month of the year to release an Oscar-winning contender Over the past 27 years, more than half (14 out of 27) of the Oscar-winner pictures were released in December. Clint Eastwood's Western “Unforgiven” is the only Best Picture winner to have opened in August!

If Fox Searchlight's comedy “Little Miss Sunshine” wins the Best Picture Oscar, it will be one of the least commercially successful films in Oscar's history, on par with last year's “Crash,” which made only $54.6 at the box-office (and is already on DVD). If “Babel” wins, it would become the least commercial movie in Oscar's history, even less so than Bertolucci's “Last Emperor,” in 1987, which right now holds the lowest record.

Over the past 25 years, the most commercial Oscar winers were: Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003), and Forrest Gump (1994).