For next year's Academy Award-ceremonies, don't expect as many pointless musical numbers. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron officially stepped down from producing the awards show after three years.
The Academy now searches for new producers in light of this new-found absence. Deadline reports how, even though Zadan implied heavily he would not be back earlier this month, the Academy's Board of Governors kept mum on the topic until now.
Zadan and Meron were the longest-running Oscars producers since Gil Cates ran the show 16 years ago for three years in-a-row as well. Finding a new producer, or producers, is just one concern the Academy has at the moment. Discussions have been in place as for whether or not the Oscars should have ten possible nominations for Best Picture, like they've had since 2010, or if they should go back to five. A decision has yet to be made.
Zadan and Meron began their tenure with the Oscars after the awards show scrambled to find a replacement host for Eddie Murphy when he and producer Brett Ratner stepped down and Billy Crystal replaced Murphy at the last minute. Even though celebrities like Will Ferrell and Zach Galifiankis agreed to host the show, replacement producer Brian Grazer took over and produced what many considered to be a forgettable show. As such, Meron and Zadan were expected to give the awards show a mix of zest and elegance.
They started in 2013 with Seth MacFarlane, followed by 2014 and Ellen DeGeneres' awful hosting gig and, of course, Neil Patrick Harris this year. The latter was met with mostly mixed responses and viewership was down 14 percent. As such, this and Zadan's comments made this news not especially shocking.
Essentially, the Academy wants a clean slate this year and want to go in with a fresh approach. If the Academy needs to figure out who should host, we have a few humble suggestions.
However the Oscars shape up in 2016, actor Vin Diesel already is confident he knows what wins Best Picture: next week's Furious 7.
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