Can Wakanda Save the Oscars?

Its Friday, and Im planning to spend my weekend working on the Keegan cut of Justice League.

Hello from Los Angeles, where were skipping Comic-Con, diving into the azure waters of Mamma Mia!, and trying to figure out which executives we have to keep kissing up to.

BLACK PANTHERS NEXT MISSION

Many of the geek elite are at Comic-Con this weekend, waiting for Hollywood to unveil its latest genre projects. Some of the big studios, however, including Disney, are sitting out the sweaty confab in San Diego. Disney will begin courting a very different type of movie fan this fall—the Oscar voter—when it attempts to make a best-picture case for Black Panther, Ryan Cooglers groundbreaking, critically adored box-office juggernaut. One barrier Black Panther has yet to break is the hurdle that has kept a single comic-book movie from being nominated for best picture, despite how dominant the form is in the industry. Disney hopes that with Cooglers film it will convince skeptical Academy members that this superhero has a grander, richer story to tell. “A lot of our films, I think very rightfully and hopefully successfully, just feel like pieces of pure escapism,” Nate Moore, Marvel Studios vice president of development and production, told me. “This movie attempts to do more. It attempts to make people think about the world thats around them and celebrate, frankly, a continent, in Africa, thats often overlooked. I dont think that at any point in the process did we feel like this could be an awards movie. But we did feel like this could have depth in a way that our movies dont always do.”

In a piece running in the September print issue of Vanity Fair, I make the case that its actually the Oscars that could use Wakandas help, in the telecasts quest to retain audience and relevance. The Oscar landscape always looks bright to me in July, when I have barely seen a thing, but Im encouraged by the prospect of some potential big-studio contenders in Black Panther, or Universals First Man, which will open the Venice Film Festival, Warner Bros. A Star Is Born, and maybe even Disneys Mary Poppins Returns, all of which feel like movies intended for a broad audience. In an era of so much division, it would be nice if the Oscars could return to the kind of communal moment it once was. Perhaps on the back of a superheros cape.

DANCING QUEENS ONLY

Don your caftans and call your Chiquititas, cause the Mamma Mia! sequel is finally here. Earlier this summer I shared gin and tonics with producer Judy Craymer, the woman we have to thank for Meryl Streep in overalls, Cher singing “Fernando,” and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the Godfather II of this feel-good franchise. “Mamma Mia! makes people comfortable in their own skin,” Craymer told me. “It makes people feel kind of happy for two hours. Theres a certain amount of looney tunes, and theres emotion, and theres a bit of a wink, and . . . you just feel that youve got a picnic on the beach, or that youre walking along in your canvas shoes and having an alfresco time, really.” You can read my full interview with Craymer, and learn what she considers her movies “Dunkirk moment,” here. Its an alfresco time, really.

DREAM ON

Zack Snyder fans, exhale. The Wall Street Journals Ben Fritz has thoroughly and delightfully investigated the mythical, secret Snyder cut of Justice League. In 2017, Joss Whedon took the superhero film over from Snyder, and Snyder die-hards (Snyhards?) have lamented ever since that they never got to see the original filmmakers vision and speculated that such a cut might one day be unveiled, perhaps this year at Comic-Con. In a word, nope. People who worked on Justice League told Fritz they did assemble a rough cut after Snyder finished principal photography in late 2016, but the director never said he intended it to be released, and Warner Bros. plans to spend this Comic-Con touting its real, upcoming projects. Dont expect this story to put the issue to rest, however. As Vanity Fairs Yohana Desta points out, the Snyder brigade is a pretty intense group, and symptomatic of a new, increasingly demanding breed of fandom.

IN DOCS WE TRUST

Were living in a boom time for documentaries, and our staffers have singled out two new ones to explore this weekend. K. Austin Collins reviews Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedguis McQueen, about daring fashion designer Alexander McQueen, calling the film a “painful but energetic portrait of an artist, a visual tribute to a designer whose obsessions, kinks, and personal trauma were all profound ingredients in his lifes work.” Meanwhile, Julie Miller interviews photographer Lauren Greenfield about her documentary Generation Wealth, which explores our current obsession with affluent celebrities like the Kardashian family. “It wasnt always like this—with these images of luxury and kind of obscene wealth dominating our media,” Greenfield said. “When I was little, there were shows like All in the Family and The Jeffersons—programming centered on working-class families.”

MEET THE NEW BOSS

Cheers to Varietys Cynthia Littleton, who answered a question many in town are asking: whose butt should I be kissing right now? Amid the merger mania, it is very hard to keep track! But Littleton has intel on key players in the soon-to-be-merged Disney-Fox family, and she pegs Foxs Peter Rice and Dana Walden as likely to inhabit key posts at Disney overseeing TV operations. She also suggests Rice as a potential successor to Bob Iger when the Disney C.E.O.s contract ends in 2021.

EARBUDS TIME

On this weeks episode of Vanity Fairs Little Gold Men podcast, Richard Lawson interviews Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again writer-director Ol Parker, and Collins runs down some promising-looking future films.

Thats the news for this week on the Hollywood and awards beat. Tell me what youre seeing out there. Send tips, comments, and Peter Rices call sheet to [email protected]. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, head on over here.

Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Rebecca KeeganRebecca Keegan is a Hollywood Correspondent for Vanity Fair.