There were several noticeable bumps in evidence at the weekend as distributors expanded their theatrical footprints in the wake of last Sunday’s (February 22) Academy Awards.

In the biggest post-Oscar surge of the lot, SPC capitalised on Julianne Moore’s best lead actress win and expanded Still Alice by 553 theatres to its highest count of 1,318 in the seventh weekend.

The move boosted the running total by $2.7m to $11.9m for the weekend. By last Sunday the film stood at $7.9m, which means Still Alice has grossed 34% of its running total since the Academy Awards ceremony. The drama opened on January 16, one day after the nominations came out.

The remaining winners generated a range of box office bumps below 10%. Surges since January 15 nominations day have been far more significant across the board.

Fox Searchlight expanded its best picture and best director Oscar winner Birdman by 806 to 1,213 venues, the biggest footprint for the dark comedy since it opened on October 17.

Birdman, which earned four Academy Awards overall, climbed three places to number 12 and added $1.9m for $40.3m after 20 weekends in release. The Sunday-on-sunday climb was roughly 6%.

It stood at $26.6m by January 15 nominations day and has grossed 34% of its running total since that date.

Focus Features used Eddie Redmayne’s best actor win in The Theory Of Everything to roll out the drama into an additional 66 theatres and climb to 611.

A further $649,000 boosted the tally to $35.1m as box office gained approximately 3% since Oscar day. The film reach its peak of 1,220 sites in mid-December and has amassed roughly 25% of its running total since $26.2m on January 15.

SPC expanded Whiplash, recipient of three statuettes including best supporting actor for JK Simmons, from 440 to 538 as the drama earned $677,000 for $12.3m in its 21st weekend in release. It climbed around 8% since the Academy Awards ceremony.

The film opened on October 10 and has amassed roughly 45% of its box office since the weekend of January 16-19, when it stood at $6.7m.

It reached a peak theatre count of 567 by the weekend of January 23-25.

Boyhood earned a solitary best supporting actress win for Patricia Arquette and IFC Films withdrew it from 140 sites to 30 in the 34th session, adding $21,000 for $25.4m. The weekend resulted in less than a 1% gain since the Oscar ceremony.

The coming-of-age story opened on July 11 and had amassed most of its theatrical revenue by January 16.

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