Will ‘Black Swan’s’ crossover from art house to mainstream portend higher Oscar hopes?

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You know a film has officially hit the mainstream consciousness when it’s spoofed on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ That happened last weekend when Jim Carrey played an oafish black swan in full leotard, tutu and even the white-faced makeup of the Darren Aronofsky film ‘Black Swan.’ My colleagues over at Culture Monster write about it here.

The film is also hitting the mainstream at the box office. Starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, the psychological thriller landed in fifth place last weekend, its highest spot since it debuted at the beginning of December.

Now in wide release, the film crossed the 1,000-theater mark in mid-December and is capturing a wider swath of the moviegoing public than the art house audience it initially focused on. And its gross keeps on trucking, losing only 9% of its box office this past weekend for a total take of $61 million. Similar to the Coen brothers’ ‘True Grit,’ ‘Black Swan’ marks Aronofsky’s most commercial release, far surpassing 2008’s ‘The Wrestler,’ which scored two acting Oscar nominations and earned $26 million two years ago.

Aronofksy also landed a DGA nomination in addition to the film’s various nods from the PGA, SAG and the Golden Globes. The film is practically a shoo-in for multiple Oscar noms, including for Portman, who is sure to be a strong competitor in the lead actress race. Does it get more love from academy members because of its strong box office?

It may at least encourage any reluctant voters to watch the movie if it hadn’t yet risen to the top of their screener pile, but voters never seem to be all that swayed by box office muscle. As we all know, they chose the $17-million grossing ‘The Hurt Locker’ over the $1-billion grossing ‘Avatar.’

— Nicole Sperling

‘Black Swan’ photo from Fox Searchlight.