British bookies set odds for Skyfall’s Oscar chances

The general public hasn’t even had a chance to see Skyfall yet, but British bookies are taking bets whether the 23rd James Bond film will get nominated or win Academy Awards.

According to THIS ARTICLE AT FLICKERING MYTH.COM, the following odds are in place: 1-7 that Adele’s title song gets nominated for Best Song; 5-4 that Adele’s title song wins the Oscar in that category; 3-1 that Skyfall is nominated for Best Picture; and 33-1 that Skyfall gets the Best Picture Oscar.

An excerpt:

In terms of what defines Oscar-bait, lets just remind ourselves what has been nominated before now. Inception, Christopher Nolan’s dream-like James Bond adventure, managed to nab a nomination in 2010 whilst The Departed, a foreign-film remake with guns-and-gangsters seemed an unlikely winner upon reflection. Skyfall has actors including Ralph Fiennes (nominated for a supporting role in Schindler’s List and a lead-actor role in The English Patient), Javier Bardem (winner of Best Supporting Actor in No Country for Old Men and nominated twice for Lead Actor in Biutiful and Before Night Falls), M is again played by Judi Dench (Oscar-winner for her short-role in Shakespeare in Love and nominated for her roles in Mrs Brown, Chocolat, Iris, Mrs Henderson Presents and Notes on a Scandal) and Daniel Craig has starred in a few Oscar contenders (Munich was nominated for Best Picture and The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo had an acting-nod for Rooney Mara).

The article also notes that director Sam Mendes, director of photography Roger Deakins and composer Thomas Newman have all either won or been nominated for Oscars. Not mentioned is John Logan, one of the movie’s three credited screenwriters, who has three Oscar nominations.

To date, Bond films have won two Oscars, for sound in Goldfinger and special effects in Thunderball. A 007 film hasn’t been nominated since 1981’s For Your Eyes Only got a nomination for Best Song. “But with the barrage of positive reviews for Skyfall coming in, you have to ask yourself whether this is their time,” the Flickering Myth article says. “Indeed, if it does manage to garner a nod in any of the acting, writing, directing – or the ‘untouchable’ Best Picture category – what a day that would be.”

UPDATE: Graham Rye, publisher of 007 Magazine, is picking up on this in his TWITTER FEED:

Graham Rye ‏@GrahamRye
You can’t put a value on an intelligent coherent script, which SKYFALL most certainly has! Purvis & Wade & John Logan have excelled!.

Graham Rye ‏@GrahamRye
But more importantly for me, SKYFALL is the most perfect example of 21st Century British filmmaking at its *very best*!

Graham Rye ‏@GrahamRye
SKYFALL deserves to win a handful of Oscars.