For the Oscars, a Fresh Magazine Face-lift
A few years ago, we kicked off a new tradition that makes Oscar week gleam a little brighter. In the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards, we reflect on the journey a legendary past winner took to holding a statuette onstage. Everyone from Barbra Streisand to Whoopi Goldberg to Gwyneth Paltrow has graced Variety’s cover as we’ve anticipated new winners joining their ranks. And this year we found a new subject as synonymous with the Oscars as anyone in history.
John Williams, who has been nominated for a record-breaking 54 Oscars (and won five), agreed to bring one of his statuettes to the shoot. As he spent the day with writer Chris Willman, he recalled what it was like composing the scores of some of the biggest movies of all time, from “Jaws” to “Star Wars” to “Schindler’s List.” His latest nomination is for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the Disney summer action film. Harrison Ford brought an appealing gruffness to one of his most iconic roles, and Williams was back in action too — becoming the oldest Oscar nominee ever.
As you thumb through the pages of this issue, you’ll notice things seem a little different. We’ve updated our look through our latest redesign. We want to thank our design director Ted Keller, who worked for months with creative director Haley Kluge and visual director Jennifer Dorn, to bring forth a Variety with the polish and sophistication the town deserves. All your favorite features are still in our book, but we now open each issue with Marquee, raising the curtain on the biggest scoops and stories of the week.
In our newsroom, the Oscars may be our favorite day of the year. While the precursors suggest that this year’s ceremony could be a very good night for Universal Pictures — with “Oppenheimer” the frontrunner for best picture and Christopher Nolan poised to finally earn a best director trophy — we want to wish good luck to all of the nominees, so many of whom we had the pleasure of spotlighting in our pages and online. 2023 confirmed that the moviegoing experience is back, and our reporters, working on Variety. com and all our social media channels, will bring you the best dispatches from what promises to be a night of celebration.