Ashleigh Hill-Buxton
So much for all that talk of Billy Crystal returning to do the waltz with the golden boy; according to Deadline, Eddie Murphy may be next year’s Oscars host.
How did this happen? Well, filmmaker Brett Ratner is producing the telecast and just worked with Murphy on “Tower Heist” and.. well you can guess the rest. Apparently Ratner, who is also directing the new Murphy-led “Beverly Hills Cop 4”, is telling the powers-that-be on Tuesday that Murphy is the guy he wants for the big show.
An insider (?) tells Nikki Finke, “Nobody knows movies better or is a bigger cinephile than Eddie. Not Brett. Not even Quentin Tarantino. Eddie can quote scenes from every single movie word for word,” an insider tells me. “He can bring all that experience to hosting. Plus he has Saturday Night Live experience before a live crowd. And worldwide the biggest crossover comedians are Will Smith and Eddie Murphy.”
So what do you think? Is Murphy the man for the job? and if so, any chance he can dust off some of his old material……?
