Oscars producer says show won’t have 6 Bond actors

One of the producers of the Feb. 24 Oscars telecast told THE DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD WEB SITE the show’s James Bond tribute won’t include the six film 007s together.

The Web site interviewed Craig Zadan and Neil Meron about their plans for the broadcast, which will be seen on ABC in the U.S. There was this excerpt:

“We certainly are going to be celebrating the nominees and winners like a regular Oscar show, but they are fitting into the design of the show that we’ve created, so there’s going to be an enormous amount of entertainment”, Zadan says, pointing to the 50 years of James Bond tribute they have announced, which won’t be a reunion of the actors who played 007 despite rampant media speculation. “It’s something else, something very unique and very exciting but no, we’re not getting the Bonds together”.

Zadan isn’t quoted about what the something else is. To view the entire story, which details planned changes in the telecast, CLICK HERE. Meanwhile, you can CLICK HERE for a sampling of some stories that presented less-than-convincing evidence that a joint appearance of the six actors was going to happen.

Looking back on three Skyfall Oscar forecasts

“Well, you can’t win them all.”

This week’s announcement of Oscar nominations got us to looking back at some predictions, at least as they related to Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film. Here are three that caught our eye:

KEVIN FALLON, ATLANTIC.COM, NOV. 13: “I’d argue, then, that Skyfall should be an obvious Best Picture contender at this year’s Academy Awards. But with the Academy, nothing is ever obvious, or simple.”

First half of passage: The academy evidently didn’t think it was that obvious. Second half: yes.

In fairness, the same article also had this passage:

Skyfall could change Bond’s Oscar luck in other categories, too. A snub for Roger Deakin’s gorgeous cinematography would be sinful, and Thomas Newman’s soaring score should earn the composer his 11th career bid. The Academy’s Best Original Song category over the past few years has been a befuddling disaster (last year, only two entries made the cut), but it’s still worth hoping the organization gets its act together to nominate Adele’s sexy “Skyfall” theme, which couldn’t complement the film more perfectly.

Deakins, Newman and Adele and song writer collaborator Paul Epworth (the Best Song Oscar is given to the songwriters, not the performer) all got nominations. Skyfall captured five nominations in total, the most for any 007 film.

GREGG KILDAY, THE HOLLWYOOD REPORTER, NOV. 20: The author, while liking Skyfall a lot, indicated the voting system of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences wouldn’t help the Bond film’s chances of a Best Picture nomination.

But standing in Skyfall’s way is the Academy’s complicated preferential voting system. While Academy members are asked to list five choices for best picture, their first choice carries the most weight. As the balloting plays out, second and third choices also can influence the outcome. Realistically, though, Skyfall isn’t likely to get a lot of first-place votes — studio movies ranging from Lincoln and Les Miserables to indies such as The Master and Beasts of the Southern Wild will vie for those top slots. But what if everyone in the Academy lists Skyfall as their fifth-favorite movie? Even so, those fifth-place choices might not come into play.

Sasha Stone, editor in chief of Awards Daily, quoted in a JAN. 3 MTV.COM STORY about why Skyfall had a decent chance to get a Best Picture nomination:

Stone thinks it’s because both 007 and the Academy have shifted toward each other, Bond becoming more serious and the Academy becoming less so.

“First and foremost, [‘Skyfall’] isn’t really a Bond movie. It’s a fairly traditional superhero movie, as we like to see them now: brooding hero, somewhat depressing plot. Mostly, Bond has been stripped of his kitsch,” Stone said.

“The money is kind of off the charts, which makes it seem like a winner. Finally, our standards have been systematically lowered over the past few decades. You can’t stop what’s coming, and what’s coming in movie business is one successfully branded franchise after another. How long can Oscar stem the tide? At least in this one, no one is wearing a Batsuit, and there isn’t any performance capture.”

Skyfall and Oscar nominations: glass half full or empty?

Skyfall composer Thomas Newman

For James Bond fans, this year’s Oscars ended a long 007 drought. Yet, fans on social media had a very mixed reaction.

On the bright side, Skyfall secured five nominations, the most for any 007 film. The previous best for a Bond movie was 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me with three. Not so bright: no nomination for Best Picture and no nomination for director Sam Mendes. In other words, fans wanted more.

Here’s a look at some of the reaction we saw among 007 fans via social media.

Thomas Newman got nominated for best score but John Barry never did for a 007 movie? Outrageous! Newman has been nominated for several movies, with Skyfall being the latest. John Barry won five Oscars but never got nominated for a 007 score, even though he established the Bond music template.

A couple of thoughts: in theory, Oscar nominators are supposed to only consider scores for a single year of movies. The 2012 nominators weren’t in a position to do a “make good” for Barry because, well, he’s no longer alive. Also, there’s probably very little overlap between those who voted to nominate Newman and those who passed over Barry in the 1960s. It doesn’t mean that Newman’s score is better than Barry’s work.

Skyfall deserved a Best Picture nomination. Why didn’t it get one? There had been a buzz that Skyfall could have gotten in. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences can nominate as many as 10 movies for the Best Picture honor. U.K. BOOKIES GAVE SKYFALL EVEN ODDS. The Whatculture Web site on Jan. 3 offered up TEN REASONS IT THOUGHT SKYFALL WAS A CONTENDER FOR A NOMINATION.

It didn’t happen. The academy only nominated nine movies. The academy tends to be pretty tight lipped. But keep this in mind: Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Peter O’Toole never got a competitive Oscar (Grant and O’Toole did eventually get honorary Oscars). With any group, such as the academy, there are internal politics, relationships, etc., that come into play. If you really believe Skyfall (and for that matter director Sam Mendes) really deserved a nomination, well, don’t let the Oscars get you down.

It’s too bad Skyfall only got technical nominations. Cinematography (where Skyfall’s Roger Deakins got nominated) and score actually are as much artistic as they are technical. (Skyfall also got nominations for best song, best sound editing and best sound mixing.)

Lewis Gilbert, in the documentary Inside You Only Live Twice, referred to Freddie Young (who photographed the fifth 007 film) as one of the great artists of British cinema. The director frames the shot, but the director of photography, though his or her lighting, greatly affects the look of a film. It’s not uncommon for DOPs to make the jump to directing. Music, meantime, has a big impact on the emotional feel of a movie.

Skyfall sets 007 record for Oscar nominations

UPDATE II: Skyfall broke The Spy Who Loved Me’s 35-year record for 007 Oscar nominations. The 2012 007 film received five nomiantions: song, cinematography, score, sound editing and sound mixing.

The Spy Who Loved Me was the previous record holder with three: score, song and art director/set decoration. It won none. The last Bond film to get an Oscar was 1965’s Thunderball for John Stears’s special effects.

UPDATE: Skyfall’s Roger Deakins was nominated for best cinematography, according to OFFICIAL OSCAR WEB SITE. Thomas Newman was nominated for best score.

ORIGINAL POST: Skyfall’s title song has nominated for an Oscar for best song, snapping a 007 drought for nominations. The last 007 film to get a nomination was 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, also for best song.

The song, written by Adele and Paul Epworth, was the only nomination the 23rd James Bond movie received during an announcement ceremony. There had been speculation that Skyfall might secure a best picture nomination but that didn’t occur.

The ceremony did not cover all categories.