Dear Gossips,
It’s Oscar weekend. And the Oscars will not be Zoomed. This is a live event, people are showing up, people will be dressed. The whole thing will feel like a movie, on television – a television movie? – in real time, so kinda sorta like a play too. And the actors will be playing themselves. I can’t wait to see if they can pull this off.
Adding to the intrigue of the event is how wide open this race is. We’ve been talking about how there are so many tight races in so many categories, and the Independent Spirit Awards, which took place last night, only added to that conversation. Riz Ahmed won Best Actor for his performance in Sound of Metal and while that doesn’t mean Chadwick Boseman isn’t still the frontrunner for Best Actor Oscar, it does give you something to think about, considering Sir Anthony Hopkins won the BAFTA Best Actor award a couple of weeks ago.
Best Actress? Anybody’s guess. The Spirit Awards honoured Carey Mulligan and both Viola Davis and Frances McDormand were nominated so there really is no clear frontrunner here. And while Chloe Zhao seems to have the Best Director Oscar locked up, there is room in the Best Picture category for an upset and a dark horse, as Sarah wrote in her prediction piece yesterday. I’m personally hoping for the dark horse (Minari) over the upset (Trial of the Chicago 7). The Hollywood Reporter published its annual “Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot" if you want a sense of what one voter is thinking.
In other Oscar news, it was confirmed yesterday that they’ve sold out all the ad space for the show. That’s probably not surprising considering that even though television ratings are down, the Oscars are a recognisable brand, a tradition. And the Oscars are all about movies, which is why most of the big movie studios are taking out ads during the show to run trailers to promote their films. But it sounds like they’re tweaking the way they present them – per THR:
“….with movie theaters reopening across the country, ABC will roll out a new format for those previews, with the stars of upcoming movies sharing their favorite moviegoing experience before the trailers roll.”
It doesn’t specify whether or not these are new trailers or trailers that have already dropped online. You know how brand new trailers are often debuted during the Super Bowl? And how the Super Bowl is one of those live televised events where people actually want to stay in their seats for the commercials? Seems like they’re trying to go for the same vibe with the Oscars.
So there’s going to be a lot to talk about on Sunday night and Monday. Duana and I are all over it! Our full Oscar roundup will begin around 3am ET so if you’re pulling an all-nighter like we are, hit us up and keep refreshing!
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
