Only two sequels have won the the Academy Award for Best Picture and Vin Diesel thinks he knows what will be the third one. He made the bold prediction that Furious 7 will win the top Oscar.
During an interview with Variety, Diesel sounded very confident in his prediction.
“Universal is going to have the biggest movie in history with this movie,” Diesel said. “It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don’t want to be relevant ever.”
Diesel continued, “This will win best picture. There is nothing that will ever come close to the power of this thing.”
Furious 7 had a surprise screening at SXSW and has already earned good reviews from critics. It will also be a huge moneymaker when it hits theaters on April 3, since fans will want to check out the final performance from the late Paul Walker. Diesel has been very emotional while promoting the film, even revealing that he named his daughter after Walker.
Despite all the success coming its way, a Best Picture Oscar in 2016 seems very unlikely. The only other sequels to win the award are The Godfather Part II and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Plus, not even The Dark Knight or the Harry Potter movies scored Best Picture nominations. And recent Academy trends have favored indie films like 12 Years A Slave and Birdman.
The Oscars did see its viewership drop by 16 percent this year, so a nomination for Furious 7 to get some viewers back might not sound that crazy.
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com