2010 Academy Awards Trivia

• If “Avatar” wins, it will be the highest-grossing picture to take the Best… • If “Avatar” wins, it will be the highest-grossing picture to take the Best Picture Award with $2.5 billion internationally and more than $700 million domestically, surpassing “Titanic,” James Cameron’s other multi-billion-dollar grossing film, according to Box Office Mojo and Entertainment Weekly.

• If “The Hurt Locker” wins, it would be the lowest-grossing picture to win best picture at $12.6 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo and Entertainment Weekly.

• James Cameron, director of “Avatar,” and Kathryn Bigelow, director of “The Hurt Locker,” were married for several years but separated after Cameron became involved with “Terminator” star Linda Hamilton, according to The Daily Beast.

• Jason Reitman, the director of “Up in the Air,” is the son of director and producer Ivan Reitman. Reitman was behind films like “Ghostbusters,” “Stripes” and “Kindergarten Cop.” Reitman played an extra in “Cop,” in which Arnold Schwarzenegger broke up him and a girl kissing at school. It was his first actual kiss, according to Cinematical.com.

• The academy hasn’t had 10 Best Picture nominees since 1943, when “Casablanca” took the Best Picture, Director, Actor and Writing awards, according to the Los Angeles Times.

• With “Julie & Julia,” Meryl Streep has 16 Oscar acting nominations to her name, the record for one performer. The last time she won was 1983 — before her fellow nominees Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe were born, according to Entertainment Weekly.

• Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will both host the Oscars Sunday. The last time the Oscars had multiple hosts was 1987 with Goldie Hawn, Paul Hogan and Chevy Chase, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

• Mo’Nique is only the second actress to be nominated while hosting a national talk show, after Oprah Winfrey for “The Color Purple“ in 1986. She also had her part deleted out of the final cut of “Garfield: The Movie,” according to Blockbuster.com.

• Alexandre Desplat, the composer of “The Fantastic Mr. Fox’s” Oscar-nominated score, also composed the music for three other nominated films: “Un Prophete,” “Coco Before Chanel” and “Julie & Julia.” He also did the music for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” according to the Internet Movie Database.

• Another “Twilight” alumna, Anna Kendrick, is nominated for her fast-talking performance in “Up in the Air.” It wasn’t her role as Bella’s friend that caught director Reitman’s eye, but rather her smooth performance in “Rocket Science.” Also, if Kendrick’s “Up in the Air” co-star Vera Farminga looks familiar, it probably isn’t because you saw her with unknown-at-the-time Australian actor Heath Ledger in the 1997 Fox TV series “Roar,” but as the police psychologist in 2006’s “The Departed.” Remember the steamy sex scene? You remember. I know you do.