While many of Hollywood’s prestige pictures have struggled to find audiences this awards season, Russell Crowe’s historical drama “Nuremberg” has quietly become a box office success story.
The Sony Pictures Classics release has grossed $46 million globally — a strong return that positions it as a hidden gem compared to several of its awards season competitors. “The Smashing Machine,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, despite some critical acclaim, has managed only $21.1 million worldwide, while higher-profile releases “Bugonia” and “The Phoenician Scheme” have barely crossed $40 million each. Of course, none of them come anywhere near the box office heights of “Marty Supreme,” which has earned $79.5 million globally.
“Nuremberg” has performed particularly well internationally, with overseas grosses already doubling its domestic box office haul. The film has earned more than $31 million overseas with major markets including France and Germany yet to open. In Italy alone, “Nuremberg” has grossed more than $8 million, surpassing last years major awards contender “Conclave,” which earned $6.9 million. The film also outperformed “Conclave” in the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Greece, Portugal and Romania.
Directed by James Vanderbilt, “Nuremberg” follows U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) as he examines Hermann Göring (Crowe) and other high-ranking Nazis during the historic war crimes trials. Crowe delivers what Variety called a performance of “consummate command” as Hitler’s narcissistic second-in-command, complete with dialogue learned in German.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September before its November theatrical release. Despite being largely overlooked during awards season, “Nuremberg” has earned six spots on BAFTA longlists, including best film and leading actor for Crowe, plus two on the Academy Award shortlists. The two-and-a-half-hour drama maintains a 95% to 96% Rotten Tomatoes audience score and ranked as the second most popular movie on Amazon and Apple TV after its Dec. 23 premium video-on-demand release.
With France set to open at the end of January and Germany in April, “Nuremberg’s” global total is expected to continue growing. It’s unclear, however, if those healthy ticket sales will translate into Oscar love when nominations are announced next week.