Academy awards give pair box office bump

'The Descendants' 'The Artist'In the run-as much as the 84th Academy awards telecast, two multiple-nominated photos ongoing their stalwart domestic runs.The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist" nabbed just shy of $3 million from February. 17-20, pushing the quiet pic's Stateside tally north of $28 million, while "The Descendants," from Fox Searchlight, made $3.5 million within the same frame for any cume of $75.six million locally."The Artist," which received 10 noms, including picture, director and actor for Jean Dujardin, continues to be continuously building in the B.O. -- increased by strong perfs in marketplaces outdoors NY and La. The pic really acquired 8% throughout the 3-day frame (its thirteenth) versus. the prior weekend in the same quantity of domestic locations -- 808."The Descendants," meanwhile, grew to become helmer Alexander Payne's greatest-grossing Stateside release, and Fox Searchlight's 4th-greatest, surpassing 2004's "Sideways" ($71.5 million). The George Clooney-starrer, which gained the thesp his third lead actor nom, received four other nods: picture, director, modified script and film editing.Both films have accumulated significant overseas hauls too. After 19 days, "The Artist" is approaching $45 million (pic first released March. 12 in France), while "Descendants," launched worldwide by Fox Intl., is approaching $70 million in only six days."The Artist" continues to be launched in 31 marketplaces outdoors the U.S. "The Descendants" is playing in 50 areas. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com