Highest-Grossing Films in a Language Other than English at US Box Office
| Title | Lifetime gross earnings | Opening weekend box office gross earnings | US release date | Director | Oscar nominated? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instructions Not Included | $44,467,206 | $7,846,426 | August 30, 2013 | Eugenio Derbez | No |
| The Girl Who Played with Fire | $7,638,241 | $904,998 | July 9, 2010 | Daniel Alfredson | No |
| Amélie | $33,225,499 | $136,470 | November 2, 2001 | Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Yes |
| All About My Mother | $8,272,296 | $50,362 | November 5, 1999 | Pedro Almodóvar | Yes |
Many films in a language other than English grow to be financially successful over the course of their time in movie theaters in the United States, but some become immediate successes in their opening weekends. A journalist claims that a film's reception can greatly influence its long-term success. Indications that the film is of high quality, such as an Oscar nomination, can dramatically boost public interest in the film and thus its overall earnings, even with a relatively modest opening weekend performance: for example,______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?
Explanation
Context: The journalist argues that a marker of quality such as an Oscar nomination can drive high lifetime earnings even after a modest opening weekend. The example must pair a nominated film that opened small and finished big with a non-nominated film that opened bigger.
Answer: B) The Girl Who Played with Fire earned more money in its opening weekend than Amélie earned, but Amélie had higher lifetime earnings.
Why? Amélie opened at 904,998, yet finished at 7,638,241. Amélie is Oscar nominated and the other film is not, so the pair shows a nomination outweighing a far stronger opening weekend.
Traps:
- A) the two opening weekend totals → neither film was nominated and no lifetime earnings appear, so nothing connects reception to long-term success.
- C) both Amélie and All About My Mother nominated → with nomination held constant, it cannot explain the gap in lifetime earnings.
- D) non-nominated Instructions Not Included outearning nominated All About My Mother → undercuts the journalist's claim rather than illustrating it.