Defying the show business maxim that the show must go on, tomorrow night's 65th annual Golden Globes awards ceremony in Los Angeles will be replaced by a news conference announcing the winners. Michael Dwyer, Film Correspondent, reports.
To support the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA), the 70 actors nominated for Golden Globe awards have declined to attend.
One Hollywood publicist compared the change of plan to the cancellation of a big wedding, with substantial bills to be paid because of the late notice. Hundreds of people hired to work at the awards dinner and presentations, and at the lavish Hollywood studio parties that follow the event, will have to be paid.
The ABC network will lose millions in advertising. They will attract a substantially smaller audience for the televised press conference substituting for a show that would have featured such Hollywood luminaries as George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, all of whom are Golden Globe nominees this year.
Presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globe awards have become so high- profile in recent years that they are regarded as having a significant influence on the voters who will choose the most coveted film awards, the Oscars, next month.
The Hollywood studios are dismayed at the loss of such valuable publicity for the nominated films, most of which are now on US release.
Among the Irish nominees for Golden Globes tomorrow night is Carlow schoolgirl Saoirse Ronan (13), who is shortlisted as best supporting actress for her pivotal role in the Ian McEwan adaptation, Atonement,the film that leads the field with seven Golden Globe nominations.
Irish citizen and Co Wicklow resident Daniel Day-Lewis is nominated as best actor (drama) for his performance as an unscrupulous oil prospector in There Will Be Blood.
In the Golden Globe television categories, Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is shortlisted as best actor (drama) for his portrayal of the young King Henry VIII in The Tudors. He won a Golden Globe in 2006 for his portrayal of the young Elvis Presley in the TV mini-series, Elvis.
Filmed entirely on location in Ireland, The Tudorsis also nominated as best TV series (drama).
And James Nesbitt, from Coleraine, is shortlisted as best actor (TV mini-series or movie) for his dual role as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the BBC series, Jekyll.