Isn’t it a tad early to be talking about a summer sleeper that could get Oscar attention in 2007?
Nope.
Insiders are already buzzing about possible Oscar nods for “Little Miss Sunshine” and its all-star comedic cast: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carrell and Alan Arkin, and fresh faces Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin.
The film, which got audience raves at the recent Los Angeles Film Festival, opens July 26. And many predict that “Sunshine” will duplicate surprise summer sleepers such as “The Full Monty" and “The Sixth Sense," both small movies that did big box office and got major Oscar nods.
In 1998, “Monty” won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Music or Comedy Score and was nominated for three more little gold men, including Best Picture.
“Sense” got six nods in 2000, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Haley Joel Osment) and Best Supporting Actress, none other than “Sunshine” star Toni Collette.
“Sunshine” could definitely follow that path. The quirky black comedy about a dysfunctional family’s road trip to fulfill a little girl’s dream has a fairy tale back story. Five years in the making, it was snapped up at Sundance by Fox Searchlight for a whopping $10.5 million, making it the most expensive movie ever sold at the fest.
Searchlight President Peter Rice explained to the trades why they wanted co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' "Sunshine" so badly: "The film got a rapturous response (at Sundance). People broke into applause during the movie, and people were crying and laughing. For first-time directors, the film is made with such an assured hand."
Collette, who knows first hand about sleeper success, did her part to get Oscar buzz going for "Sunshine" this week by making a stop at the Australians in Film screening at the Harmony Gold Theatre.
“I love this movie! Thank you so much for coming to see it,” the Aussie told the packed house, including actresses Peta Wilson and Sean Young, New Line’s “Snakes on a Plane” producer George Woud, “Kinky Boots” actor Joel Edgerton and his brother Nash, “Wolf Creek” director Greg McLean and some top casting folks such as Deborah Aquila (“The Shawshank Redemption”).
Reactions at the post-reception were two thumbs up. Sometimes four. "I could already see this movie a second time," admitted one AIF member. Another one asked, "Can they rewind it and show it again tonight?"
The Australians in Film group has some pretty impressive ambassadors such as Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Baz Luhrmann, Naomi Watts and Russell Crowe.
But it also boasts scads of lesser known members who are voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (think Oscars), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (think Golden Globes), BAFTA/LA, and the Directors, Screen Actors and Writers Guilds.
Come time to fill out awards ballots, don't think voters won't recall Collette making time to stop by the AIF Monday night "Sunshine" screening before racing to an important dinner meeting. Voters also won't ignore that the "Sunshine" directors, Kinnear, Arkin, Dano and little Abby Breslin all posed with their yellow VW van at the Los Angeles Film Fest's closing night premiere.
Photo Credits: The directors and cast of "Little Miss Sunshine" take their act on the road and pull into the Los Angeles Film Festival on July 2, 2006
WireImage/Jordin Althaus
Photo Credits: Toni Collette - seen here at the February "In Her Shoes" DVD launch and charity shoe auction - introduced "Sunshine" at the AIF screening/reception on July 17.
WireImage/Gaye Gerard
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