The creative team behind this year’s Oscar shed some insight into what audiences can expect from Sunday’s ceremony.
Expect reunions!
As previously announced, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne are set to come together for a “Bridesmaids” reunion. But superhero fans can also expect a Marvel reunion. “We’re going to have superstars, superheroes, and they’re going to be an extra terrestrial on stage,” promised executive producer Katy Mullan.
Mullan was joined at a Wednesday press conference by executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor, who said the theme of this year’s Oscars is humanity. Kapoor said, “Everything that you see in the show is inspired by human touch and creativity.”
Additionally, Kapoor said that the Dolby Theater stage has been completely redesigned for this year’s ceremony. “It’s very immersive. We hope all our nominees are celebrated in a very big way. We have beautiful photos and clips and nomination packages that a lot of time and thought and care has been put into.”
Mandy Moore, who is no stranger to choreographing the Oscar musical numbers, returns this year.
Two of the five original song nominees will be performed: “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” and “I Lied to You” from “Sinners.”
In putting the numbers togeher, Moore and the team didn’t want to just recreate the song from the films, but celebrate those numbers as a whole, playing into how each of the films have resonated with audiences around the world.
Moore divulged how “Golden” rehearsals were going. “I kept having this visual, and I talked to Raj about beautiful gold flags.” Moore joked, “Go with me, everybody. It’s so beautiful. I was working on it today, and it was like, ‘Oh, I haven’t done a lot with flags’, but I was thinking on the stage, after I saw the renderings, a beautiful air quality could happen. They’re walking down onto the the diamond and all that should rise at this point when all the flags go out.” She added, “My job is to create this visual that happens that’s in conjunction with what everybody else is doing. So we’re gonna see how it all goes together on camera on Friday.”
Kapoor provided further insight into the “Golden” performance and said, “We have this lovely story celebrating Korean culture with authentic Korean drummers and singers.” He went on to say, “We’re telling these global stories, celebrating international films that have had global impact and doing things in a really different way.”
Speaking about “Sinners” and how the film earned a record 16 Oscar nominations, shattering the all-time nominations record, Mullan said, “There’s going to be a really special moment that pays tribute to how important that film has been this year, how beloved it is with audiences, and also how it’s just resonated globally in such a huge way. So we just feel really fortunate that we get to celebrate it with a big performance, and some of the filmmakers and storytelling around it.”
Kapoor added that costume designer Ruth E. Carter and choreographer Aakomon Jones have been working with the team. “It’s a really beautiful package.” He went on to say, “We have the lovely Misty Copeland making an appearance. We have all these talented dancers, and it’s going to be a real celebration, not only of the song, but of the film.”
Kapoor pointed out how the nominees across the categories reflect the show’s international audience. “We’re very lucky that that is the case,” Kapoor said. “It is also very apparent with our presenters. I think we have really great presenters that well represent this international feel and this global outreach that we have.” He added, “Everything just feels like we’re all working towards the same goal, and we are celebrating global cinema. This is not just a show about North American film. The Oscars is about global and international cinema, and the very best artists that work on them.”
Production designer Misty Buckley noted that the sets she designed for the show are accessible. “It’s always center to our design thoughts that we have to make sure that people can access this set. So this year, there’s the front stage, it goes right down so that there’s wheelchair accessibility, there’s also a lot of automation in the set, so it moves really seamlessly, and it feels very fluid.”
Conan O’Brien, returning for hosting duties, was asked how he was going to handle commenting on the ever-changing political news and President Trump, who will likely be sharing his opinions on his social media platform Truth Social. O’Brien replied, “I’ve never thought of it as my show. I’m the host, which is a very specific task, and I’m brought in to do a host job, which is, I think, to put people at ease, make people laugh.” He went on to say, “I think that that what’s happening in the world will be reflected throughout the show. My job is to always try and hit this very, very thin line between entertaining people and also acknowledging some of the realities.”
O’Brien added he’d been working on material with his writers for a long time, and it was still evolving. “Jokes we thought of two months ago are irrelevant now, and there might be things that happen this week that will find their way into the show.” He added, “I’ll use my best judgment and and I also have a great sounding board here with Raj and Katie, and I think between us, we will find the right tone and the right places.”
The 98th Oscars air Sunday on ABC.
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