8 Oscar Bait Movies That Ended Up Box Office Disasters

While it has become customary for future Best Picture winners to be recognized by critics at the moment of their premiere and set up for future success, sometimes the promising Oscar hopefuls simply fail to capitalize on their momentum and are completely forgotten by the academics when it comes time to vote.

And there's no sadder fate than being forgotten, and these 8 Oscar hopefuls, whose directors were already writing their acceptance speeches before the nominations were announced, learned that sad truth first hand:

Let's get one thing straight – the above mentioned movies aren't bad, in fact they're pretty solid in terms of acting, directing and cinematography. In any other year, they would have definitely deserved some Oscar nominations, but their original timing just wasn't right.

It's sad to see such endearing films fail to capitalize on their initial wave of hype, and it's unclear who to blame – the academics who didn't want to vote for them out of spite, or the producers who may have already thought the Oscar was waiting for them and cut corners on marketing campaigns for the films.

In any case, the 8 Oscar hopefuls on this list should serve as a cautionary tale for future directors and producers to remember that making a great movie doesn't always translate into winning an Oscar.

The Oscars 2024 will be held Sunday, March 10, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The event is to start at 7 p.m. EST.