The cast of August: Osage County will receive the Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award at the 17th annual Hollywood Film Awards, the first awards show of the 2013 season, on Oct. 21 at the Beverly Hilton, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
John Wells‘ big-screen adaptation of Tracy Letts‘ Tony- and Puliter Prize-winning play features a star-studded cast, including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, Abigail Breslin, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.
The film, which premiered at September’s Toronto International Film Festival and will be released nationwide by The Weinstein Co. on Christmas Day, is a dramedy about intra-family chaos. It revolves around three sisters (Roberts, Lewis and Nicholson) and their significant others (McGregor, Mulroney and Cumberbatch), plus other relatives (Martindale, Cooper and Breslin), who reunite at the Oklahoma home of their mother (Streep) following the death of their father (Shepard), whereupon they air their grievances about how others present at the gathering have caused their lives to become terribly screwed up in one way or another. August‘s producers include George Clooney and Grant Heslov, who also produced last year’s best picture Oscar winner, Argo.
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The Hollywood Film Awards are determined by founder and executive director Carlos de Abreu and an advisory committee. De Abreu tells THR, “We are very proud to recognize the ensemble cast of August: Osage County, for their dramatic and outstanding performances.” (Full disclosure: Dick Clark Productions, which shares the same parent company as THR, has an undisclosed investment in the Hollywood Film Awards.)
Previous recipients of the Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award include Crash (2005), Bobby (2006), Hairspray (2007), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), The Social Network (2010), The Help (2011) and Argo (2012). Crash, The Social Network, The Help and Argo all went on to score best picture Oscar nominations; Crash and Argo won.
Last month, the Hollywood Film Awards and Dick Clark Productions, which also produce the Golden Globe Awards, entered into a partnership that could lead to the ceremony being televised in future years. Over the past 10 years, Hollywood Film Awards honorees went on to garner a total of 96 Oscar nominations and 34 Oscars.
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Other 2013 honorees who have already been announced include 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen and supporting actress Lupita Nyong’o; 42‘s supporting actor Harrison Ford; August: Osage County‘s supporting actress Julia Roberts; Before Midnight lead actress/co-screenwriter Julie Delpy, lead actor/co-screenwriter Ethan Hawke and co-screenwriter/director Richard Linklater; Behind the Candelabra producer Jerry Weintraub; Captain Phillips producer Michael De Luca; Dallas Buyers Club‘s lead actor Matthew McConaughey and supporting actor Jared Leto; Gravity‘s lead actress Sandra Bullock; Lee Daniels’ The Butler director Lee Daniels; Monsters University‘s director Dan Scanlon and producer Kori Rae; Pacific Rim visual effects supervisor John Knoll; and Prisoners‘ supporting actor Jake Gyllenhaal
Twitter: @ScottFeinberg
