George Clooney in News

Disney and Viacom get Oscar love

And the financial riches from the Academy Award nominations go to….Walt Disney (DIS) and Viacom (VIAB)!Disney and Viacom are the biggest winners from this morning’s Oscar nominations. That’s because the two media giants are listed as co-producers for the two movies that scored the most nods, including coveted Best Picture nominations. “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood,” each produced by Viacom’s Paramount Vantage and Disney’s Miramax, wound up with 8 nominations.In addition to Best Picture nominations, “There Will Be Blood” star Daniel Day-Lewis was nominated for Best Actor while “No Country for Old Men’s” Javier Bardem received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.Why is this financially significant? According to a 2001 study by Colby College professor Randy Nelson, a Best Picture nomination could add, on average, nearly $6 million in ticket sales for a film between the day the nominations are announced and the Oscar telecast. And the winning film could stand to get another $16 million.Best Actor and Best Actress nominations could add an estimated $1 million to the box office while the films featuring winners in those categories could get another $5 million or so. Nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Actress also help lift box office, although not by a substantial amount.In the past few years, nominations have been crucial to box office success of Oscar-nominated films, particularly since the Academy has recently shown a tendency to honor films that weren’t big box office draws initially. Best Picture nominations were a boon for “Brokeback Mountain” in 2006 and for “Million Dollar Baby” in 2005.Still, nominations often aren’t as significant for movies that already were doing well financially. That was the case with “The Departed,” last year’s Oscar winner for Best Picture. It already had grossed more than $100 million before the nominations were announced.But nominations can also help lift DVD sales, particularly for nominated movies that are out of theaters by the time nominations are announced. This is key as DVDs have become an increasingly important part of the revenue stream for media conglomerates.“Little Miss Sunshine” enjoyed a bump in DVD sales shortly after Oscar nominations were announced last year. And DVD sales of “Crash,” which wound up beating “Brokeback Mountain” for Best Picture two years ago, also got a nice bump after nominations were announced.“In the most recent years, DVDs have benefited more from Oscar nominations and awards,” Nelson said in an interview with me today.So Oscar nominations do matter. And most of the major media companies had reasons to be happy Tuesday. News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox scored a Best Picture nomination for the comedy “Juno.” And star Ellen Page was nominated for Best Actress. Time Warner’s (TWX) Warner Bros. received a Best Picture nomination for “Michael Clayton” as well as Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress nominations for George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton. (Time Warner also owns CNNMoney.com.)The final Best Picture nomination went to “Atonement,” the adaptation of the popular Ian McEwan novel that was released by Focus Features, which is owned by GE’s (GE) Universal unit. “Atonement,” which won the Golden Globe for Best Picture — Drama — did lose out in the Best Actor and Actress categories though as stars James McAvoy and Kiera Knightley were snubbed. Thirteen-year old Saorise Ronan did get a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her potrayal as young Briony Tallis, however.Of course, it is still up in the air whether or not there will actually be a televised awards ceremony due to the Hollywood writers’ strike. But Nelson’s study indicates, that as actors and actresses are fond of saying on the red carpet before the show, it is an honor just to be nominated.So even though winners may not receive as much fanfare as in years past, all the films with major nominations are likely to benefit from increased marketing hype in the next month as the studios will be quick to tout all their award contenders.

Clooney takes role as UN peace messenger

AP - In his new role as U.N. messenger of peace, George Clooney was playing himself.

George Clooney's new role: peace messenger

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Buzz Briefs: Chrissie Hynde, McCartney

Chrissie Hynde protests horse drawn carriages, Paul McCartney says he did not have heart surgery, George Clooney holds press conference at U.N. Hefner's 'Girls Next Door' will be on March Playboy cover.

George Clooney Gets U.N. Role

In his new role as United Nations messenger of peace, Clooney toured U.N. headquarters for a ceremony and received a new pin for his lapel marking his designation for the special job from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.