Sausage Party hopes to move from red sauce to the red carpet with Sony Oscars campaign
One of Hollywood’s biggest film studios has thrown convention (and decorum) to the wind by announcing that it would place its full financial and political backing behind a campaign to see the innuendo-laden Sausage Party put forward to receive a prestigious Academy Award.
Sony Pictures is sidestepping more worthy releases such as Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle The Revenant to focus on the Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill flick which stars a grill full of foul-mouthed sausages whose bouts of profanity echo around one hot dog’s quest to uncover the truth behind its existence.
Sony Pictures chair Tom Rothman told THR: "Academy members are way smarter and more forward-thinking than people realize. They want to recognize bold, original, risky breakthroughs, and that’s what Sausage Party is, however subversive. Plus, it’s just plain cool.”
Sony is targeting the production for categories such as best animated feature and best original song, going so far as to send out CD’s of the track (composed by Alan Menken who already has eight Oscars under his belt) to judges.
Whether the film receives a nomination, let alone an award, remains in doubt however with the film languishing on a mediocre score 0f 6.6 stars on film portal IMDB and allegations from disgruntled animators that they were treated badly by the film’s producers.
The unconventional story earned Sony a healthy $33.6m at the box office on its debut.