Less than three months after his generally acclaimed performance as host of the Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel has been booked to repeat the gig on March 4, 2018.
“If you think we screwed up the ending this year,” the comedian said in a statement, “wait until you see what we have planned for the 90th anniversary show!”
Kimmel’s Oscars debut in February was marked by a botched reading of the best picture winner (not Kimmel’s fault) and an elaborate stunt in which an unwitting tour group was slipped into the auditorium and paraded among the star-packed audience. The gag briefly made a celebrity of Chicagoan Gary Coe, a tourist who seized the moment to do a mock wedding ceremony with his fiancee conducted by Denzel Washington.
The producers of this year’s telecast, film veterans Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, also will return.
“Our Oscars team this year delivered a show that hit every high note,” Motion Picture Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in the announcement. “Jimmy brought back the essence and light touch of the greatest hosts of Oscars’ past. Mike and Jennifer’s love of movies is infectious and touched every aspect of the show.”
