The Academy officially confirmed previous rumors today via a press release, and Eddie Murphy has officially accepted the job to host the 2012 Oscar telecast set for February 26, 2012 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland.
“Eddie is a comedic genius, one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever,” said Oscar producer Brett Ratner. “With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances – especially on stage – I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February.”
Rumors began over the weekend when Humor Mill first broke the news sourcing friends of Murphy that his Tower Heist helmer and Oscar show producer Brett Ratner had chosen the 50-year-old comic to host the show. Deadline followed up on the rumor and reported over the weekend that while Murphy was the only name Ratner was submitting for consideration, “a lot of big names have approached the other 84th Academy Awards producer Don Mischer saying they are interested in hosting, and Don is fielding those calls.”
One name several expected to be among possibilities was Billy Crystal who had a surprise appearance on last year’s show and later was could as say he got “a little itchy” and was considering returning to host for the ninth time.
As for what to make of this news, I don’t think it’s as bad as people are assuming it will be, the same way I don’t think Ratner as producer is a terrible idea. Murphy is a talented comic that obviously lost his touch as it started making more family-friendly films, but this return to front stage and center may be something of a rejuvenation for the actor who was previously lost the Oscar for his role in Dreamgirls, a win that was assumed to have been sabotaged by his widely reviled performance in Norbit. All seems well between Murphy and the Academy again and I think we may be in for a very interesting telecast.
But now I ask you, what do you think?
