Is Oscars Going to be Another Golden Globes?
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Tonight, the Oscar nominations are out but will the show go on? With the writers` strike still going strong, are the Oscars shaping up to be another bust just like the Golden Globes were? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson joining us now from Park City, Utah, where she has been covering the Sundance Film Festival. Hey, Brooke.</s>HAMMER: Hey there, A.J. And it sure seems to be shaping up that way as you said. Joining now me to talk Oscars and nominees is Leah Rosen, film critic for "People" magazine. She`s here with me at Sundance, and in Los Angeles, Tom O`Neil from "TheEnvelope.com." Thank you both for being here. And first, I want to take a look at the best picture nominees. We have got, "Atonement," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," and "There Will Be Blood." Now, these are all fabulous pictures but what really strikes me, Leah, is that these are not huge blockbusters. A lot of people haven`t seen these movies but that doesn`t really matter, does it?</s>LEAH ROSEN, FILM CRITIC, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Absolutely not. The Oscars are about quality, not box office success. When`s amusing, though, the biggest money maker here is really "Juno," what was supposed to be this little, tiny indy film and it`s nearing $80 million.</s>ANDERSON: Wow. It`s been a pleasant surprise for those film makers and the Academy voters get those screeners in the mail so they don`t actually have to go buy the tickets and make the movies a blockbuster. Tom, what do you think? Big surprises out of the nominees?</s>O`NEIL: I think so, yes. Usually the top earning serious movie of the year is nominated. Last year, it was "The Departed." In the previous years, "A Beautiful Mind" and "American Beauty." Well, last year, the "American Gangster" was the top grossing serious movie; it`s not here. And the best tea leaves we have leading up to Oscar nominations in this category come from the directors` guild and the producers` guild. Well, they both nominated "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." The Oscars didn`t. They both excluded "Atonement," but the Oscars put it in.</s>ANDERSON: Leah, what do you think? Any surprises? I was kind of surprised Denzel Washington didn`t get a nod.</s>ROSEN: There were just so many good male performances this year. There just wasn`t room. I think the surprise in best picture was possibly "Sweeney Todd." I mean that was certainly seen as an Oscar contender, got very good reviews. There - I think its lack of box office success hurt it. This is a film that`s so far, you know, has not turn into blockbuster. It`s only performing OK. And I think there was such high expectations that that kind cost it a nomination.</s>ANDERSON: OK. Well, we can talk about potential Oscar winners but as we know, there may be not be a traditional Oscar ceremony. The producer of the show, Gil Cates has said the show will go on with or without the writers. That seems like it would be a challenge, Tom, if the writers are picketing the show. He said, though, there will be a plan B. What could possibly be plan B?</s>O`NEIL: He`s been very secretive about plan B. Up until the other day when he told us at "The L.A. Times" that he will put on a show full of a lot of clips of past Oscar shows and will go on even if the actors aren`t there, he said, "Because I would like them there." Well, that`s the first we heard of this. We always hoped the secret plan somehow included the actors and quite frankly, Brooke, I find this shocking. Are the Oscars really first and foremost a TV show? Or is this what we always thought it was which was a gathering of the Hollywood clan to honor the best film work of the year? I would think the TV show should come second.</s>ANDERSON: Well, you know, Jason Wrightman(ph) - he`s here at Sundance. He was actually honored with an Oscar nomination for "Juno" for Best Director. And he told us that his understanding was that the Oscars may be taped or without cameras and that would attend if that were the case. But Leah, we learned today that the writers aren`t planning to picket the Grammy Awards which will happen before the Oscars. So there`s still hope for resolution for the Academy, right?</s>ROSEN: There`s a lot of pressure now on the writers to settle the strike given that the Directors` Guild settles, given that everyone really does want to see an Oscars` telecast. So, I mean, we will see. You could end up with a show that`s just a whole lot of black and white clips of Bob Hope. You could end up with just the world`s biggest private party that we don`t get to see. Or maybe we`ll have the real Oscars.</s>ANDERSON: Well, I`ve been speaking to a lot of people here at Sundance about the writers` strike and the Oscar ceremony including Robert Redford. And listen to his strong take on the situation.</s>ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: I`m on the side of talent because I think talent has been mistreated over the years. It goes all the way to the beginnings where in the sense they were treated like slave labor in some cases. The industry`s changed a lot but what doesn`t seem to have changed is the relationship between the bosses and the talent.</s>ANDERSON: OK. If even Robert Redford is up against the studios here, Tom, is that indicative of how bitter this has become and how it could potentially affect the Academy Awards?</s>O`NEIL: Yes, it could, because the writers and the producers are far apart. You know, the writers only get 0.3 percent. Yes, not 3 percent. 0.3 percent of DVD sales and they want 2.5, so they`re way apart. I think the solution to this, Brooke, is move the Oscars back to April. That`s where they were held traditionally. What`s the big - only in the past four years did they move up to February. So you know what? It`s an emergency situation. Let`s put them back in April. The strike will be over by then. We \ have a TV show and a ceremony and everybody`s happy.</s>ANDERSON: OK. Maybe give them a little bit more time to resolve the situation. Tom O`Neil, Leah Rosen, thank you both. We will leave it there. A.J., there`s still - you know, its February 21st so still a month away. Hopefully there will be a resolution.</s>HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson, thank you very much. And now we want to hear from you. It is our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, "The Oscars: Do you care if they are canceled?" Let us know at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight, or E-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. All right. We`ve got much more on the tragic late-breaking story tonight. Heath Ledger found dead in his New York City apartment. Heath got an Oscar nomination for role in "Brokeback Mountain." He leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter that he had with his former fiancee, actress Michelle Williams. Heath Ledger, dead, at the age of 28. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s continuing coverage of Heath Ledger`s shocking death, coming up.