After a few panicked hours following Brett Ratner’s decision to resign from co-producing the Oscars, followed by Eddie Murphyditching the host job in seeming solidarity, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have run down their call list and found someone willing to take on the job: shock-haired Hollywood producer Brian Grazer.
One of the main brains behind production company Imagine, a regular collaborator with Ron Howard, a man with an Oscar of his own on his mantlepiece and a list of producing credits as long as Mr Tickle’s arms, Grazer had been rumoured as a possible replacement almost immediately after Ratner’s exit.
Grazer will now be in the hot seat alongside veteran Don Mischer, who had been working up a show with Ratner. His first task? Finding a new host to replace Murphy.
"Brian Grazer is a renowned filmmaker who over the past 25 years has produced a diverse and extraordinary body of work," Academy president Tom Sherak said in a statement picked up by the Hollywood Reporter. "He will certainly bring his tremendous talent, creativity and relationships to the Oscars."
"It's very gratifying to be part of a show that honours excellence in the medium to which I have devoted so much of my career," Grazer blabbed about scoring the gig. "Don is a legend, and I am excited to work with him." Place your bets now for whom they hire to present thing…
The Oscars ceremony will be held on February 26, 2012.