The Oscars will have a host for the first time since 2018, the last time the ceremony was held with a featured host.
The 94th annual Academy Awards, scheduled to air March 27th on ABC, will be the first ceremony since the 90th to have a host. ABC and Hulu’s president, Craig Erwich, confirmed during ABC’s portion of the Television Critics Association virtual press tour on Tuesday.
On Monday, it was announced that Glenn Weiss would direct the Oscars telecast for the 7th time in a row, and Will Packer will serve as the producer for the event.
Jimmy Kimmel, late-night television host, and ABC resident hosted The Oscars in 2017 and 2018, with 26.62 million people tuning in for the latter. Ratings for the 2019 ceremony, which lacked a host, actually went up to 29.56 million before falling again in 2020 to 23.64 million and then plummeting in 2021 to 10.40 million.
While it is still unconfirmed, the Academy has reached out to Spider-Man star Tom Holland to take on the job; Holland once said that he was interested in hosting the event.
As one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, due to his success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems obvious that the Academy would have him as the face of this year’s show. However, it seems as though Tom Holland may be too busy for the event, even though he’d love to do it, he tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Holland will next be seen in the video game adaptation film Uncharted with Mark Wahlberg and has been cast as Fred Astaire in the biopic of the Hollywood star.
The Oscar nominations are set to release in February, and the ceremony is still currently scheduled to take place in March. Following the Golden Globes, the films expected to contend for Best Picture include The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, and Belfast.