Brian Grazer named as new Oscars producer
Speculation whirls over who will replace Eddie Murphy as host
CBC News
Posted: Nov 10, 2011 12:42 PM ET
Last Updated: Nov 10, 2011 3:49 PM ET
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has hired veteran producer Brian Grazer to work on next year’s Oscars ceremony.
Grazer, who won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind, steps in for Brett Ratner, who resigned Tuesday after a scandal over a gay slur.
Grazer will join co-producer Don Mischer, who worked on the 2011 Oscars and was named to the job alongside Ratner in August, academy president Tom Sherak announced Wednesday.
One of the biggest jobs facing the veteran feature film producer, who has been nominated four times for an Academy Award, is to find a replacement for Eddie Murphy, who was originally to host the upcoming Oscars.
Brian Grazer faces the job of finding a new Oscar host. Associated PressMurphy stepped down from the job of shepherding the February TV broadcast after his pal Ratner resigned.
Hosting the four-hour marathon is considered a thankless task, as Oscars hosts often come in for heavy criticisms, and the job adds little to a show-biz resume.
It had been hoped that Murphy's comedic talents would help perk up Oscars ratings, which have suffered in recent years.
The funnyman’s resignation has sparked plenty of discussion among show-biz insiders and bloggers about who should be recruited to replace him.
Past hosts such as Billy Crystal and Johnny Carson are generally believed to be better choices than last year’s two young hosts — Anne Hathaway and James Franco — who were hired in the hopes they would draw younger viewers.
But there is no great rush to name someone. The Academy usually doesn’t announce the Oscars host until late November or early December. The gala is set for Feb. 26.
Grazer, 60, is also producer of Tower Heist, which he worked on with both Ratner and Murphy. He is known for his attention to detail in films such as Frost/Nixon and Apollo 13, with frequent collaborator Ron Howard. He was also nominated for a screenwriting Oscar for the 1985 comedy Splash.
Ratner left amid criticism of his use of a pejorative term for gay men in a question-and-answer session at a screening of his action-comedy Tower Heist.
With files from The Associated PressShare Tools
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