"Steve Jobs" has been dropped from 2,000 theaters after disappointing at the box office.

Universal pulled the plug on its Oscar hopeful after opening to disappointing numbers in wide release. After having opened to huge numbers in limited release a month ago, the film seemed to be on the path to being a huge hit.

After all "Steve Jobs" received rave reviews and starred an all-star cast that included Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet. The film was also written by Aaron Sorkin who wrote Oscar nominees "Moneyball" and "The Social Network." Both films went on to become box office surprises making over $70 million domestically.

The film had also received Oscar buzz after festival premieres at Telluride and New York and looked like the perfect Oscar front-runner. However, when it hit wide release the film made $7 million demonstrating that limited releases do not always cross over to mainstream audiences. With a $30 million production budget and a $30 million marketing campaign the film needed to open with at least $20 million if Universal expected to break even or even make a profit.

Its poor showing was likely to do with the fact that three other nationwide releases were coming out on the same day and that the film's inventive structure may have been too heavy for some audiences.

That Universal decision to cut the film from 2,000 engagements is not a complete disappointment especially since the box office is getting overcrowded with more prestige films and newer releases such as "Room," "Suffragette" and "Spotlight" are expanding in the next weeks. With all these releases it is likely that they would take business away from "Steve Jobs."

Keeping "Steve Jobs" out of theaters allows Universal to create a new plan for its awards campaign. While the box office may have hurt its chances to win best picture, "Steve Jobs" is still expected to be a big awards player and Universal knows that. Within the next few weeks it is likely that the film could win awards with critics and rack up nominations with the Critics' Choice and Golden Globes. If this is to happen then Universal will likely expand the film into more theaters and use the awards buzz and nominations as a means of getting audiences excited again.

This would not be the first time that a film is pulled and is later re-released after awards. Last year "Birdman" went wide in the middle of November and by mid-December the film was playing in limited theaters. After getting nine Oscar nominations, Fox Searchlight brought it back into theaters.

Similarly Fox searchlight pulled "12 Years a Slave" out of theaters by December only to return it to theaters in January when Oscar nominations were announced and in March after the film won the Oscar. While nominations are not always key to box office hits, the awards nominations allow a film to gain more exposure and to receive more attention from its audience.

Universal's strategy may have shown a lack of confidence but the company likely prefers to save its theatrical window for later on in the run.

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