JJ Abrams, the man behind cult TV hit “Lost” and the new “Star Trek” reboot series, says he hopes this year will finally see a science fiction film win the Best Picture Oscar. Not that he’s hoping for himself – while “Star Trek” is nominated in various technical award categories, the film itself is not in contention, but James Cameron’s 3D epic “Avatar” and the low budget science fiction thriller “District 9” certainly are.
“I think there’s a real shot (of a genre film winning),” he told the BBC. “I know everyone’s looking at “Avatar”, but I was a huge fan of “District 9” as well. I’m just excited that they’re both up there, nominated for Best Picture.” The forty three year old filmmaker and screenwriter admits that he is “a huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy, horror” and also concedes that while he would be delighted to see a genre picture finally given the ultimate Oscar recognition (the genre generally being overlooked by the traditionally snobby Academy voters), “as long as the films keep getting made, whatever awards they win or don’t win is sort of beside the point.”
Abrams is currently working on a fourth “Mission Impossible” film with Tom Cruise (he directed the third in the popular action series). “I’m working with Tom on the script,” he says of the sequel “and we are getting a director very soon, so I’m very excited. We had such a good time on the one we did before.”
