This year’s Academy Awards have been the more reported-on than in previous years, and for good reason: They can’t lock down an Oscars host. They had one for a bit — namely, one Kevin Hart — but then he was driven from the gig in record time. But as with much in life, all this madness could have been avoided had AMPAS been able to enlist Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The wrestler-turned-actor (-turned-presidential candidate one day maybe?) took to Twitter Wednesday night after someone tagged him in a post, recommending the onetime star of The Scorpion King for the gig that, at this point, no longer exists. (Two weekends out, it appears the Academy will indeed have a revolving door cast of famous presenters, which may include the Avengers.) Well, The Rock — no stranger to talking to his fans online — chimed in.
Ah mahalo dude, I was their first choice to host this year, and my goal was to make it the most fun and entertaining Oscars ever. We all tried hard, but couldn’t make it work since I’m shooting Jumanji. Academy and I were super bummed but maybe one day down the road 🥃 https://t.co/eiiMuBNOzb
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 6, 2019
“I was their first choice to host this year, and my goal was to make it the most fun and entertaining Oscars ever,” Johnson tweeted. “We all tried hard, but couldn’t make it work since I’m shooting Jumanji. Academy and I were super bummed but maybe one day down the road.”
There is no confirmation yet from AMPAS whether this is true. Moreover, it raises at least one major question: If The Rock is too busy with the sequel to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, then doesn’t that mean his co-star Kevin Hart would have been too busy, too? (Their schedules could always be different, perhaps.)
Hart, of course, was the Oscars host for about a day-and-a-half. Shortly after the announcement, old homophobic jokes he made were dug up, causing Hart to step down from the job and attempt a sort-of-not-quite apology tour for his old behavior.
So, yes: If everyone hadn’t turned Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle into a runaway smash, Johnson wouldn’t have a sequel to make, and he could have given us the “most fun and entertaining Oscars ever.” Instead, we’re going to get a bunch of random celebrities rushing through a ceremony the producers swear will only eat up three hours of our time — or, to put that into perspective, only twice the length of Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
