Oscar Noms Based on Books
The weekend was filled with analyses of the Oscar nominees (winners will be announced on Feb. 24). One of the big surprises was the number of major nominations for the indie flick, Beasts of the Southern Wild. which is up for four categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. The latter goes to Quvenzhane Wallis, the youngest person ever to be nominated (in a neat bit of symmetry, this category also includes the oldest person ever nominated, Emmanuelle Riva, 85, for Amour). Beasts is also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. It is based on the one-act play Juicy and Delicious, by Lucy Alibar (not the short story by Doris Betts).
Only one of the nominated films is based on a children’s book [UPDATE: one of our readers points out that, as much silly fun as they may be, Defoe’s books are published, reviewed and classified as adult. The film, however, is aimed at kids]. The Pirates! Band of Misfits is up for Best Animated Feature Film and faces some stiff competition, including Brave! which just won a Golden Globe Award. According to the Hollywood Reporter, director Peter Lord was taken by surprise by the nomination, saying, “I had kind of given up, you know? The movie came out in March, after all.”
The movie is based on the first two books from a series by British children’s author [see above], Gideon Defoe. Official Movie Web site: ThePirates-Movie.com. The movie tie-in (RH/Vintage) was released in April, 2012.
Following the jump, the full list of the other ten nominees based on books, with tie-ins:
Lincoln — Twelve nominations — Best Picture; Best Director, Steven Spielberg; Best Actor, Daniel Day Lewis; Best Supporting Actor, Tommy Lee Jones; Best Supporting Actress, Sally Field; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cinematography; Best Film Editing; Best Costume Design; Best Music (Original Score); Best Production Design; Best Sound Mixing
Based on latter part of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals
Official Movie Site: TheLincolnMovie.com
Tie-in:
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Tie-in Audio – S&S Audio
Silver Linings Playbook — Eight nominations — Best Picture; Best Director, David O. Russell; Best Actor, Bradley Cooper; Best Actress, Jennifer Lawrence; Best Supporting Actor, Robert De Niro; Best Supporting Actress, Jacki Weaver; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Film Editing
Based on: The Silver Linings Playbook, first novel by Matthew Quick (FSG; Sep 2, 2008). Nancy Pearl selected it as one of Summer’s Best Books, 2009, on NPR
Tie-in:
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Argo — Seven nominations, including Best Picture; Best Supporting Actor, Alan Arkin; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Film Editing; Best Music (Original Score); Best Sound Editing; Best Sound Mixing
Based on: “a selection from The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article ‘The Great Escape,‘ by Joshuah Bearman.”
Related Title: Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History, released in September (Viking) to coordinate with the move. It’s also available inaudio from Blackstone and downloadable audio through OverDrive.
Tie-in:
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Tie-ins:
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Audio CD:
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Behind-the-scenes book:
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Les Misérables — Eight nominations, including Best Picture; Best Actor, Hugh Jackman; Best Supporting Actress, Anne Hathaway; Best Costume Design; Best Makeup and Hairstyling; Best Music (Original Song), “Suddenly”; Best Production Design; Best Sound Mixing
Official Web Site: LesMiserablesFilm.com
Based on: Musical which is based on the novel by Victor Hugo
Tie-in:
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — Three nominations, including Best Visual Effects; Best Makeup and Hairstyling; Best Production Design
Official Site: TheHobbit.com
A second film, The Hobbit: There And Back Again is scheduled for release 7/18/14
Based on: Novel by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tie-in:
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Also, RH/Del Rey mass market
In addition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has released several related titles, including a behind-the-scenes book.
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A Royal Affair — Best Foreign Feature; based on the Dais novel Prinsesse af blodet by Bodil Steensen-Leth
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Kon-Tiki — Best Foreign Feature; based on, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
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Anna Karenina — Four nominations, including, Best Cinematography; Best Costume Design; Best Music (Original Score); Best Production Design
Official Site: FocusFeatures.com/Anna_Karenina
Based on: Novel by Leo Tolstoy
Tie-in:
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The screenplay, by Tom Stoppard, is also being released
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Hitchcock — Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Official Move Site: HitchcockTheMovie.com
Based on: Hitchcock!: Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello (Dembner Books, Distributed by Norton, 1990, re-released by Soft Skull Press, 12/24/12)
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January 15th, 2013 at 12:59 pm
I don’t think The Pirates: Band of Misfits is a children’s book. It was published & reviewed as adult. It’s silly, to be sure, but in a Monty Python kind of way that appeals more to adults.