Martin Scorsese (WME, Rick Yorn, Bloom Hergott) will direct a feature adaptation of Swedish author Jo Nesbo's crime best-seller "The Snowman" for Working Title. Matthew Michael Carnahan ("World War Z") will pen the script about a detective who investigates Norway's first serial killer.
Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty ImagesLast week, Martin Scorsese launched a tongue-in-muzzle campaign to secure a write-in nomination for Blackie, the intrepid Doberman in his Oscar-nominated film, Hugo, for the First Annual Golden Collar Awards.
The acclaimed director made his case in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, taking issue with the double nominations for Uggie, the Jack Russell star of Water for Elephants and The Artist. He implored readers to support Blackie by sending write-in ballots to the editors of Dog News Daily, which is presenting the awards, to get the dobie the nomination she deserved.
Earlier this week, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Blackie received the necessary 500 votes on Dog News Daily’s Facebook page and he’s now included in the list of GC-nominated canine thespians.
As you can imagine, the competition is fierce. Top dog Uggie – nominated for two Golden Collars for his roles in The Artist and Water for Elephants — is the frontrunner in the race that also includes Cosmo as Arthur in Beginners, Denver as Skeletor in 50/50 and Hummer as Dolce in Young Adults. Dogs on TV series including Modern Family, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Chelsea Handler’s E! show are also nominated.
But apparently, Scorsese didn’t get the memo about Blackie’s Golden Collar nom on Monday; in an interview Tuesday night on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, the director said that despite his 11 Oscar nominations for Hugo, he still feels badly that Blackie was snubbed for a Golden Collar.
“I think we all know what happened,” he told Kimmel, referring to the cute factor of Uggie, the dog in the silent film The Artist, compared with a guard dog who terrorizes children.
The director praised Blackie’s ability to underplay a scene a la Jack Benny. “And the muzzle that came out in 3D? It’s genius!” So, how did directing Blackie compare to directing Don Rickles in Casino? Scorsese replied: “Well, the Doberman had more flair to him. And he looked better in 3D.”
Actually, Fash Track learned from a source close to the Golden Collars that the real reason Blackie wasn’t initially included in the nominations had nothing to do with his acting skills. Rather, the initial snub was due to the fact that some facial expressions had been enhanced by CGI and 3D, which was not the case in the other dogs’ films.
So Blackie snuck in this time thanks to the kindness of the Golden Collar folks and the intimidation factor of Scorsese. But we’re keeping a close watch on the Hugo star to make sure that her next role is Golden Collar-worthy for pure canine instincts, not computer programming.
The GC Awards will take place on Feb. 13 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.
Check out Scorsese’s Kimmel interview below:
