USA: UNIVERSAL PICTURES CLAIM THAT RIVAL STUDIOS HAVE LAUNCHED "SMEAR CAMPAIGN " AGAINST OSCAR NOMINATED FILM "A BEAUTIFUL MIND"

Record ID: 392632

  • Title: USA: UNIVERSAL PICTURES CLAIM THAT RIVAL STUDIOS HAVE LAUNCHED "SMEAR CAMPAIGN " AGAINST OSCAR NOMINATED FILM "A BEAUTIFUL MIND"
  • Date: 11th March 2002
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 11, 2002) (REUTERS) SOUNDBITE (English) HAYES SAYING: "Well, a lot of the charges of dirty campaigning have centered on 'A Beautiful Mind,' which is a reality-based story about John Nash, the mathematician. So a lot of people are saying was John Nash in reality, what was the biography really like and does the movie live up to
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA34CBDKNUBU0RFD16QF62UWTBQ
  • Story Text: While Hollywood studios spend ever-increasing amounts to promote their Academy Award-nominated films, a new Oscar campaign trend seems to have emerged this year as Universal Pictures and those behind "A Beautiful Mind" claim rival studios have launched a smear campaign against the film, which is widely seen as the front-runner in the best picture category.
    Oscar campaigning reaches new heights each year with film studios spending millions upon millions of dollars to promote their nominated films and actors in the race toward the Academy Awards. This year has seen numerous billboard signs erected, the industry trade publications blanketed in print ads, and even the appearance of can-can dancers atop a Los Angeles hotel hired by 20th Century Fox to promote "Moulin Rouge."
    But amid the campaigning highs, there have been new lows in the form of behind-the-scenes attack campaigns, or at least that's what Universal Studios and many involved with "A Beautiful Mind" are claiming. Director Ron Howard has spoken out about recent reports, that he says have been leaked to the press by rival studios, challenging the accuracy of the biographical film based on the life of Nobel-Prize winning mathematician John Nash and his battle with schizophrenia.
    Dade Hayes, as senior editor at the trade publication Variety, described the nature of the supposed attacks.
    "... the knock on it from other studios and from competitors is that it takes too many liberties with the truth and so they're kind of trying to sling a little bit of mud at it and say it's this is not really an Oscar-worthy film because it plays so fast and lose with the facts," Hayes told Reuters.
    Media reports have raised questions about Nash's alleged anti-Semitism and homosexuality -- charges Nash vehemently denies. The most recent criticism of Nash came recently with the publication of a letter attacking Jews that the Nobel-prize-winning mathematician wrote in 1967. Nash, in an interview with the U.S. new magazine program "60 Minutes,"
    acknowledged he may have said things while delusional that could have been construed as anti-Semitic, but that he has never had any bad feelings toward Jews.
    Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who adapted the script from a book by Sylvia Nasar, says omissions in Nash's life were purposeful.
    "Everything that didn't fit into that architecture, which is genius, madness, Nobel Prize, was discarded for storytelling reasons, not for political reasons, only because that was the story we were trying to tell, which is a true story, but only a piece of his life," Goldsman said.
    The "60 Minutes" interview comes in the frenetic final days before the March 24 Academy Awards ceremony, for which "A Beautiful Mind" and star Russell Crowe are considered Oscar favorites for best picture and best actor despite the recent stream of negative media stories about Nash.
    Meanwhile, Crowe, Universal Studios, and Ron Howard have expressed dismay at what Hollywood insiders see as an orchestrated smear campaign against the movie. Dade Hayes, senior editor at the trade publication Variety, agrees that recent goings-on seem to mirror political campaigns and says we may see attack ads next.
    "... every year there are these angry charges and counter-charges. It's becoming very much like political campaigns, where you have attack ads. That's actually the last frontier that we may see are attack ads," Hayes said.
    Director Ron Howard says it's a shameful trend:
    "It's not about reminding people of your virtues, it's about attempting to undermine the other candidate's credibility. That's a shame," Howard said.
    The film's star Russell Crowe agrees, and says he wishes awards season could focus more on art than on mudslinging.
    "I think we have to examine the amount of money we're spending on these campaigns because as soon as it costs that much money, that takes people to a different place. And this is supposed to be about the joy of filmmaking. It's supposed to be about celebration and it really shouldn't get into those kinds of politics," Crowe told reporters at the Oscar nominees luncheon.
    Whether or not the supposed dirty campaigns will have any affect on Oscar night remains to be seen or, for that matter, may never be known. But at least all of the ad campaigns, good and bad, will be over March 24 when the Academy Awards are handed out.
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