Madonna's "W.E." In the Hunt For Oscar
Monday, June 13, 2011 at 3:15PM ...That's the only possible reason that the Weinstein Company would be interested in distributing her original movie about a woman obsessed with those King's Speech supporting characters, right? Insiders have called it "smart and stylish" and claimed that Andrea Riseborough is Oscar worthy in it.
Abbie Cornish and Andrea Riseborough in 'W.E.'
Perhaps the Weinstein's will do some magic sleight of hand and try to sell it as a revisit. "If you loved the King's Speech, you'll love..."
Please don't be fooled by W.E.'s simply HIDEOUS movie poster, which is floating around the net. This movie could well be very good. Please to remember that The King's Speech also had an absurdly ugly photoshopped teaser poster, too. W.E. stars Abbie Cornish (in contemporary time) and Andrea Riseborough as Wallis Simpson in ye olden King's Speech times. No word yet on the release date but if we know our Weinsteins it'll be between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.
Even if the movie hits AMPAS's sweet spot, the woman behind the film could still be an easy snub. In fact, Madonna has never been Oscar-nominated despite writing the following classic movie songs, nearly all of them better than some of the Oscar nominees in their years.
Madonna in Charge.
"Crazy For You" -VisionQuest (1985)
"Into the Groove" -Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
"Who's That Girl" and "Causing a Commotion" and "Look of Love" -Who's That Girl (1987)
"Live to Tell" -At Close Range (1986)
"This Used to Be My Playground" - A League of Their Own (1992)
"I'll Remember" - With Honors (1993)
"Beautiful Stranger" - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
"Die Another Day" - Die Another Day (2002)
Arianne & MadonnaThe Academy's music branch hates her but since they have legendarily horrid taste and confounding voting practices, we can't let it bother us too much.
As is usually the case with tricky-to-gauge period pieces, W.E.'s best Oscar bet is probably in Costume Design. Arianne Phillips (pictured left with Maddy) who has worked with the icon quite often and done sensational work on previous films like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The People Vs Larry Flynt, 3:10 to Yuma and Walk the Line (Oscar nominated) is doing the costumes.
Stay tuned...
Reader Comments (19)
Two different spellings of Arian(n)e!
Also, I can't say I'm interested in W.E. at first glance. The story just seems blah to me. The costumes do look Academy-ready though, that's for sure.
Jake -- the story does sound blah but you never know... it's all in the execution. Though i worry that people are comparing it to A SINGLE MAN because i don't need Madonna to go all pretentious and slomo like her friend Tom Ford.
I don't typically go much for the period royal dramas but anything with Madonna's name on it is sure to warrant at least one viewing. I pray that it's not like A Single Man though, outside of Colin Firth's performance I was not a fan
Does Madonna have any shot at a Best Director mention? :)
Being a huge fan of Madonna, I'm really excited for W.E., even if the premise is slightly silly. I'm hopeful that Abbie Cornish and Andrea Riseborough will be awesome in it, and I'd love to see "Academy Award nominee Madonna" one day.
I'm definitely looking forward to W.E., but I'm sorta nervous about for Madonna's sake. I so want her to have a success (at least critically).
BTW, the Weinstein's picking it up is more likely a smart business idea. With W.E. and The King's Speech they can easily release a "royal" DVD box set (throw in something else of theirs that involves royalty for a 3 disc box set and you can charge $50 and sucker in people who otherwise mightn't have purchased them separately.)
Comparisons to A Single Man? Are those just because Abel Korzeniowski did the score? Strange.
Anyway, three reasons why I'm looking forward to this: 1. Madonna. 2 & 3. My mistake, it's just that one. I LOVE HER. Hope this is good.
I looked at Abbie’s face and thought that she was doing a comedy in W.E. That’s why I remember that she hasn’t done any comedy, right? She needs to do a good comedy like Emma Stone in Easy A rather than Sucker Punch and being limited in Limitless. Be a good girl box office draw like reese Witherspoon then maybe an Oscar will come later.
I think I’d rather have her nominated by writing and singing a song for this movie’s soundtrack. Prove the Academy that Best Original Song category’s winner doesn’t have to suck like Randy Newman’s song last year. *forgive me TS3 fans:)*
hmm i was thinking last night....
does this mean Madonna might just have a shot at best director?
and is it time for Venice yet? isn't it going to open there first?
Will be interesting to see what happens. ...
I'm looking forward for this, having been a Madonna's fan for ages. We know very well that the Academy hates her as a potential contender (see the snubs she received for her many good tunes and the one for EVITA) but loves her as performer (and rightly so...her SOONER OR LATER performance in 1991 was nothing less than spectacular)
If WE receives some nominations, possibly some important ones, such as Best Actress (Andrea playing Wallis...can't you imagine the media? A Best Actress Nominee for a film directed by a Razzie Winner Actress...) this could be considered a reward for Queen of Pop...
I imagine that Best Director will be a quite hard task, if you consider that Barbra Streisand was overlooked for her work in THE PRINCE OF TIDES, no matter that the movie was nominated in seven categories, including Best Picture and Best Actor...too many categories, actually!
The "posters" out there are actually just fan-made. No official posters have been released so far.
This film is getting really good buzz so far. A lot of people were impressed with the film and Madonna's work. I hope it goes well for her.
Just as long as it's better than 'Filth & Wisdom', lol.
But I would also like to see Madonna break through with the Randy Newman club!
I'm so excited for Madonna I hope this is really good it will definitely be a slap in the face to all her critics.
After a few years of gaga it will nice to see the real queen of pop return!!! even if she is flogging a film!!!
I have reservations about this one. Are they just going to leave out the part where Wallis and Edward go to Germany to meet Hitler? And their pro-Nazi stance and collaboration with Nazi sympathizers during wartime? Unless that's part of the modern day character's disillusionment with the pair -- which would be pretty interesting.
Mirko, it worked for Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola (She's a Razzie Winner) :), so maybe it would'nt be so surprising.
Personally, I'm glad for living in those decades, which the surprises at the Oscars are happening more often -From foreign unknows (Cotillard and Waltz), to reivindications (Cruz, Adams and Wahlberg) or even surprise at reality shows contestants (Hudson, Mo'Nique and Renner)
I have a question... Who's the "lead" of the two main female actresses? Because if Riseborough is excellent, is easier a nomination (and even a win) in this category. This is a possible list of contenders by Harvey Weinstein:
Lead Actor / Supporting Actor:
Tom Hardy - The Wettest County of the World - Shia LaBeouf is the first lead, but Hardy's character is the oscarable role. Also the test screeners said the film could be a major player with a great Hardy and very compelling Chastain
Lead Actress / Supporting Actress:
Abbie Cornish & Andrea Riseborough - W. E.
Lead Actress:
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn
Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn
Guy Pearce & Jason Clarke - The Wettest County of the World
Supporting Actress:
Vanessa Redgrave - Corionalus
Jessica Chastain - The Wettest County of the World
Sorry, the Supporting category for Riseborough... She hasn't -at least on paper- a strong competition.
Crazy For You wasn't written by Madonna but beautiful Time Stood Still from The Next Best Thing was. Sadly it has never been a single. She needs to record a song for a movie, any movie, pronto.
Andrea Riseborough has seriously impressed me (especially in The Devil's Whore) and I've been waiting for her to get a major breakthrough role for a while - I just don't know if this will be the one and it'll be frustrating if she gives a great performance in a terrible movie... Madonna's involvement in anything film-related makes me extremely nervous, but I'm definitely open to being pleasantly surprised.