Oscar Host Eddie Murphy Will Commit '200' Percent

'He's a huge movie star. He has huge international appeal,' producer Brett Ratner tells us on Emmy Awards red carpet.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Eddie Murphy
Photo: Bruno Vincent/ Getty Images

The American public may no longer be convinced about Eddie Murphy's enduring comedic gifts, based on the number of folks who purchased tickets to "Imagine That" and "Meet Dave." Even Eddie Murphy may no longer be convinced about Eddie Murphy's enduring comedic gifts. But one man with no such doubt is Brett Ratner, who is producing the 2012 Academy Awards and who has tapped Murphy to host.

"I think there's no question about it. He's the greatest," Ratner told us Sunday night at the Emmy Awards about Eddie taking on the gig and slaying the crowd. "My first idea was the show had to go in the direction of more comedy with a single host, and there's nobody better on that stage than Eddie Murphy."

"I grew up watching 'Raw' and 'Delirious' and being a big fan of him," Ratner added. "He's a huge movie star. He has huge international appeal. There's nobody better. He's a pro. The guy is a pro."

That's certainly true, even if it has been a couple of decades since Eddie's days as the foulmouthed king of the standup comedy world. Ratner, for his part, appears to be attempting to hit a sort of Eddie Murphy reset button, for years trying to kick-start another "Beverly Hills Cop" film and now coming out this fall with "Tower Heist," a flick that finds the comedian cussing and riffing like it's the '80s all over again. Perhaps for Murphy, in Ratner he trusts. Which is why, according to the filmmaker, Eddie took zero convincing to take on the Oscar gig.

"It's not the kind of job you want to convince anyone to do. They either want to do it or they don't," Ratner told us, adding that Eddie is going to commit more than 150 percent effort to the job. "200, not 150! 200!"

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