Oscars give pair box office bump

'The Descendants' 'The Artist'In the run-around the 84th Oscars telecast, two multiple-nominated photos ongoing their stalwart domestic runs.The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist" nabbed just shy of $3 million from Feb. 17-20, pushing the quiet pic's Stateside tally north of $28 million, while "The Descendants," from Fox Searchlight, made $3.5 million inside the same frame for just about any cume of $75.6 000 0000 in your area."The Artist," which received 10 noms, including picture, director and actor for Jean Dujardin, remains continuously building within the B.O. -- elevated by strong perfs in areas outdoors NY and La. The pic really acquired 8% through the 3-day frame (its thirteenth) versus. the last weekend within the same volume of domestic locations -- 808."The Descendants," meanwhile, increased being helmer Alexander Payne's finest-grossing Stateside release, and Fox Searchlight's fourth-finest, surpassing 2004's "Sideways" ($71.5 million). The George Clooney-starrer, which acquired the thesp his third lead actor nom, received four other nods: picture, director, modified script and film editing.Both films have gathered significant overseas hauls too. After 19 days, "The Artist" is approaching $45 million (pic first launched March. 12 in France), while "Descendants," released worldwide by Fox Intl., is approaching $70 million in just six days."The Artist" remains released in 31 areas outdoors the U.S. "The Descendants" is playing in 50 areas. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com