Oscar Audience Up Sharply; Kathryn Bigelow Breaks The Directing Glass Ceiling

The audience for this year's Oscars was up by a sharp 14% this year to over 41 million viewers. Apparently, the move to nominate more films for best picture paid off handsomely as more viewers wanted to see how their favorite films would do this year. ABC couldn't have been happier.

But, the biggest news from the 82nd Oscars this year was the triumph of female director, Kathryn Bigelow and her film THE HURT LOCKER, which won six awards. Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman ever to win the directing award. Three women had been nominated in the past. And THE HURT LOCKER also became the lowest grossing movie ever to win the best picture category. The film only grossed a little over $14 million at box offices, compared to AVATAR, which was the largest grossing movie ever at over $2 billion for international box office receipts. AVATAR cost a staggering $230 million to produce, while THE HURT LOCKER cost just $11 million. The Oscar win might just give the independently-produced Iraq War drama a major shot in the arm and bring in fresh DVD sales, rentals or even a theater return.