|
Listen to article
|
Comedian Conan O’Brien will return for the third straight time to host the Oscars in 2027, organizers announced Tuesday.
O’Brien, 63, will preside over the 99th edition of American cinema’s most prestigious gala, which will be held on March 14 in the heart of Hollywood.
“We look forward to Conan superbly leading the celebration with his brilliance and humor,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor in a joint statement.
The former late-night host will once again work with Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, who will serve as executive producers of the Academy Awards for the fourth consecutive time.
Read Also: Nigerian Juju Music Icon, Y.K. Ajao Is Dead
The announcement came as part of the presentation of Disney’s programming lineup. Disney is the parent company of ABC, the network responsible for broadcasting the ceremony.
“Conan has created remarkable energy around the Oscars,” said Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich. “His singular comedic voice makes Hollywood’s biggest night one of the most entertaining celebrations of the year.”
O’Brien, a six-time Emmy Award winner, has hosted several late-night television programs, including “The Tonight Show.”
He currently hosts the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” and the HBO travel series “Conan O’Brien Must Go.”
Viewership for the Academy Awards dipped slightly this year, with 17.9 million people tuning in to the gala broadcast by ABC and streamed on Hulu.
The 98th edition of the ceremony named “One Battle After Another” as the year’s Best Picture, and also honored its director, Paul Thomas Anderson, who took home the first Oscar of his career.
The Oscars will leave Hollywood after celebrating their centenary, organizers said Thursday, as they announced a long-term deal to hold the gala in central Los Angeles.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said the ceremony, the most important night of the year for the global film industry, would leave the Dolby Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after 2028.
The 2029 edition will instead be held at The Peacock Theater, part of the vast LA LIVE complex, next to the Crypto.com Arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“For the 101st Oscars and beyond, the Academy looks forward to closely collaborating with (owners) AEG to make LA LIVE the perfect backdrop for our global celebration of cinema, both for our live in-theater audience and for film fans around the world,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor said.
Read Also: I Never Thought It’d Hit – ‘Scream’ Creator 30 years later
The 10-year deal with AEG comes as the ceremony leaves network television in the United States, to be broadcast instead worldwide by YouTube.
It also marks an end to a decades-long run for the ceremony at the Dolby, which is just a stone’s throw from the Roosevelt Hotel, where the very first Oscars were handed out in 1929.
While Hollywood is synonymous with the Oscars, the ceremony has not always been held there.
Stars have previously descended on a number of venues in the Downtown area, and for much of the 1960s, the ceremony was hosted in the beachside city of Santa Monica.
At this year’s awards, held on March 15, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” — a wild tale of leftist revolutionaries, white supremacists and immigrant detention centers — was crowned as best picture.
Warner Bros. Discovery said that Paramount has raised the price of its takeover offer to $31 per share, potentially setting the stage for a fresh bidding war with Netflix over the future of the Hollywood giant.
Paramount’s offer had previously stood at $30 per share since December — when the Skydance owned company launched its hostile bid to challenge a deal Warner struck with Netflix to sell its studio and streaming business for $27.75 per share.
A Warner Bros. Discovery buyout would reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape — bringing HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like “Harry Potter” and, depending on who wins the Netflix v. Paramount tug-of-war, potentially even CNN under a new roof.
Unlike Netflix, Paramount wants to acquire Warner Bros. in its entirety — including networks like CNN and Discovery. The companies have spent the last couple of months in a heated, public back and forth over who has a stronger deal. And Paramount upping its offer only adds to the pressure.
