By Jeremy Fuster

In many ways, the box office profile for the 2024 Best Picture Oscar nominee field looks much like last year’s nominated field: A pair of cultural phenomenon hits taking up the lion’s share of grosses while the majority of contenders are specialty and international titles that gross tens rather than hundreds of millions in limited release.

While last year’s box office heavyweights were blockbuster sequels — “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” — this year’s were the summer titans simply known in pop culture as “Barbenheimer”: Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” which grossed $1.44 billion worldwide, and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which grossed a biopic record $952 million.