Ratings boost from ‘La La Land’?
If the Oscars had doubled down on nominating films with actors named Ryan, the ceremony's chances for a ratings bounce might be as likely as host Jimmy Kimmel's Trump jokes.
Saluting a blockbuster like Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool is the surest way to lure viewers. But there's optimism afoot that the Ryan Gosling-Emma Stone charmer La La Land, combined with pop-star performances and Kimmel's agile wit, will make Sunday's (in the US) ceremony a winner.
"The fact that La La Land is a musical, it's a feel-good movie, it's a romantic movie, it does bode well for the ratings this year," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst with media research firm comScore.
Among the eight other competitors are Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea and Fences. Missing in action despite an unfilled 10th slot: superhero romp Deadpool. That means the ceremony, which last year posted its smallest audience in eight years (34 million), can't ride the movie's $363 million box-office coattails to ratings glory.
An inescapable truth is that bigger movie grosses mean better Oscar ratings: Titanic, which brought in more than $600 million domestically, holds the record with 55 million viewers in 1998. The ceremony also boasted audience favorite Billy Crystal as host. "Selfishly, we'd love to have
Rogue One nominated for best picture, or Jungle Book nominated for Best Picture," ceremony producer Michael De Luca said. He was nostalgic about years past, in which popular hits including 1975's Jaws and 1977's Star Wars were contenders.
"We're a little envious of that era because it means more eyes on the telecast. ...But you play the hand you're dealt (with)," he said.
"The individual (Oscar) voters aren't thinking of the ratings. They're simply invested in being snobs," said Tom O'Neil, editor of the awards-prediction website GoldDerby.com. "In recent years, they're embracing art-house films and message movies, specifically indie films. They automatically perceive that as art."
Even the expansion of the Best Picture category to 10 potential nominees, which followed the snubbing of 2008's critically acclaimed blockbuster
The Dark Knight, has largely failed to dent voter resistance to boxoffice champs.
Titanic filmmaker James Cameron put it bluntly in an interview last month. The movie academy considers it its "patrician duty to tell the great unwashed what they should be watching,” not rewarding what viewers pay to see, Cameron told The Daily Beast. "And as long as the academy sees that as their duty, don't expect high ratings. Expect a good show, and do that duty, but don't whine about your ratings."
Yet ABC, De Luca and fellow producer Jennifer Todd remain upbeat.
"This is our Super Bowl," said Marla Provencio, ABC Entertainment's executive vice president for marketing. The ceremony is traditionally the network's most-watched program and television's top-rated nonsports event. /