Will Eddie Murphy be hosting the 2012 Academy Awards? Sources close to the show say that Murphy is a top candidate to host the Oscars this coming February.
Producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer are meeting with Tom Sherak, the President of the Academy of Motion Pictures, this Tuesday to discuss the 2012 host, and Eddie Murphy is high up on the list.
The Oscars have been using a two host approach for the last few years, (with James Franco and Anne Hathaway , and Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin) but in 2012 they’ll be going with a more traditional approach.
According to Humor Mill Magazine , Murphy has already been confirmed as the 2012 host, but no official announcement has been made yet.
Murphy is clearly comfortable in front of a large audience and is well equipped with improvisational skills, but Murphy hasn’t been on stage for nearly 20 years. The actor has found his biggest successes recently with voice roles in the “Shrek” series, although he was nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for “Dream Girls.”
So will Eddie still be comfortable on the stage?
A source told Deadline.com:
“Nobody knows movies better or is a bigger cinephile than Eddie. Not Brett. Not even Quentin Tarantino. Eddie can quote scenes from every single movie word for word. He can bring all that experience to hosting. Plus he has “Saturday Night Live” experience before a live crowd. And worldwide, the biggest crossover comedians are Will Smith and Eddie Murphy.”
Murphy also has two movies coming out soon. “Tower Heist” and “A Thousand Words” are both set to open before the 2012 Oscars.
Would Eddie Murphy be a good Oscar host? I don’t know, but he’ll be better than James Franco and Anne Hathaway.
