Holding On for Oscar?

Could Oscar nominations help resurrect “The Godfather Part III,” which was snubbed by the L.A. and N.Y. film critics’ groups, as well as the Hollywood Foreign Press’ Golden Globes?

Since being launched on 1,820 screens on Christmas Day--with one of the year’s biggest promotional campaigns--Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster-saga sequel has done a fast fadeout at theaters. Last weekend it was down to 775 screens--where it earned just $1.5 million, a per-screen average of less than $2,000. Total take so far: a disappointing $61 million.

“Let’s just say we want the movie to do as much business as possible--and that we think we have a shot at some Oscar consideration (nominations),” says a Paramount Pictures spokesman, who stressed that the studio will attempt to “maintain as many theaters as possible.”

Academy Award nominations will be announced Wednesday.

“Godfather III,” of course, is not alone among notable fall releases that have sputtered badly at the box office. Universal stopped reporting grosses on “Havana” after 47 days--when the big-budget feature had taken in a paltry $9.1 million.

Other strugglers: Warners’ “Bonfire of the Vanities” ($15.4 million, 45 days); MGM/Pathe’s “The Russia House” ($21.4 million, 47 days); Warner’s “The Sheltering Sky” ($1.8 million, 54 days) and Fox’s “Come See the Paradise” ($850,563, 43 days).