On Feb. 24 the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — better known as simply “The Oscars” — will
hold its annual telecast (host or not).
Best Picture laurels will be awarded and the frontrunner right this
moment is actor/director/writer/producer Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born.
Disney will try to
convince voters that the $700 million box office super hero movie, Black
Panther, is the Best Picture of 2018 (contain your laughter) and there
will be a lot of support for director Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma to crossover from
the Best Foreign Language category, but — even though the Academy members have
gone completely insane (and destroyed their brand in the process) — neither one
of those two will win Best Picture.
Warner Bros. Home
Entertainment is clearly thinking that A Star is Born will not only be
nominated Best Picture, but has a very good chance of winning on Feb. 24. This past week they looked at the calendar
and said that Tuesday, Feb. 19 woud be the perfect slot for the home
entertainment launch … right before the big night!
The ARR is 137 days (when
you have the gold, you can take your own sweet time bringing a theatrical hit
to market … this 88 and 95 day rush-to-market windows that has become so
popular at the studios these days that they end up leaving money on the table). Domestic box office receipts are a staller
$197 million (will easily top $200 million before it is done).
Planned for release are a
stand-alone DVD edition, a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray
Combo Pack edition.
On paper this film
production looks stupid. Another remake
of A
Star is Born? Really? But, Bradley Cooper guessed right that the
market was ready for a film showcasing the talents of six-time Grammy
Award-winner, Lady Gaga (aka: Stefani Germanotta). And shock of shocks, she stars in the film
as herself … the “Lady Gaga” persona is jettisoned and it worked like a charm.
There is a certain irony
in a star, who is already a star, being born in a film that has been remade
four times. Lady Gaga/Stefani
Germanotta can now go live on stage as simply herself and there is little worry
that her fans will walk away because she’s not all retro glam rock. It will be interesting to see on Dec. 28 at
the MGM Park Theatre (a 5,200 seat venue) when she begin her “two-year
residency” with the “Lady Gaga Enigma.”
It is now likely that
Bradley Cooper could be in the Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood stratosphere with
Oscar nominations for Best Picture (as producer), Best Adapted Screenplay and
Best Actor, with Lady Gaga/Stefani Germanotta being nominated for Best Actress
… and “Shallow” getting a nomination for Best Song.
As to bonus features,
there is a featurette titled “The Road to Stardom: Making A Star Is Born,”
three “Jam Sessions and Rarities” — “Baby What You Want Me To Do,” “Midnight
Special” and “Is That Alright” — and four music videos — “Shallow,” “Always
Remember Us This Way,” “Look What I Found” and “I’ll Never Love Again.”
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