I usually don’t cover Vin Diesel stories, but that’s not by any particular design. I just don’t have strong feelings about him one way or the other. I don’t find him particularly attractive (nor does he repel me, honestly) and I don’t find him particularly watchable in films either. But he’s carved out a profitable and successful niche with the Fast & Furious films, plus now he’s down with Marvel too. He’s pretty harmless as a person, and I even got a little verklempt when he named his daughter “Pauline” after his dear friend Paul Walker.
But… can anyone really say that Vin Diesel is, like, a brilliant dude? No. We can’t. Can we say that he’s doing award-worthy work in award-worthy films? No. I always thought he was fine with that. He has his niche, he’s making money, he has a big and loyal fanbase, and he’s living the dream. But no. Apparently, Vin Diesel thinks that Furious 7 is going to win the Best Picture Oscar at the 2016 Oscars. Seriously.
Universal’s “Furious 7” is expected to set box office records when it opens on April 3, with fans eager to flock to multiplexes to bid farewell to Paul Walker. But the film’s star and producer, Vin Diesel, predicts that “Furious 7’s” success won’t be limited to the number of tickets it sells. He says the film will also sweep a certain 2016 awards ceremony.
“Universal is going to have the biggest movie in history with this movie,” Diesel said in a lengthy interview with Variety for this week’s cover story. “It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don’t want to be relevant ever.” Diesel took a breath, before offering his prediction for a second time. “This will win best picture,” Diesel said. “There is nothing that will ever come close to the power of this thing.”
When Variety humored Vin’s suggestion/prediction and offered up this possibility as a solution to the growing discontent with the current Oscar structure, this is what happened: “…when told about the prediction, a Universal executive chuckled and then asked to go off the record.”
As for Vin’s veiled threat – “It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don’t want to be relevant ever” – that sounds SO Kanye West, right? Kanye would totally say something like that. Imma let you finish, Citizen Kane, but Furious 7 WAS THE BEST FILM OF ALL TIME. Citizen Kane doesn’t respect real artistry, like Furious 7. Orson Welles needs to give his Oscar to Vin Diesel, yo.
Anyhoodle, Furious 7 will get some technical nominations, maybe special effects or sound editing and stuff like that. But no. Furious 7 is not going to win Best Picture. It’s not even going to be nominated for Best Picture.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Boy, STOP!!!
I’m going to assume that’s his poor attempt at humor
Seriously. It was a joke.
I’m going to assume the same.
Yeah, he’s got a very dry sense of humor. I’m pretty sure he said that with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
I applaud his confidence but there is no way Furious 7 gets anywhere near best picture. I am sure it will make a killing at the box office.
Yeah, he was joking.
It was so OBVIOUSLY a joke, come on people.
Isn’t Vin very smart? I think I read that somewhere.
He was kidding. Clearly he was kidding.
I’ve had a soft spot for the guy ever since I learned that he taught Dame Judy Dench how to play freaking DUNGEONS and DRAGONS when they were filming Riddick together. He’s a huge D&D fan.
And between that tidbit, the fact that he was Groot and the Iron Giant, and his karaoke videos are hilarious-makes me adore the guy.
Vin is very smart. He’s clearly kidding.
He’s so cool! I love his nerd side, and he seems really sweet in real life. 🙂
Ha…Good one, Vin!
Yo, Groot: The Academy doesn’t care so much about being relevant. They pay lip service to it, but they always make sure to appeal to their base: a bunch of stuffy, rich white dudes.
Sorry to have to break it to ya.
Hahahahha bless his heart MTV Movie Awards got you hun.
this is the ONLY awards other than the Razzies that will take note
What? ………. no really, what?
Uhhh… Maybe we can give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was a joke that got lost in print.
Vin was just drumming up interest in his latest movie and in a way honouring his late friend. But when you look back over the years at the best picture, actor/ actress, director,etc, there is always a “WTF” moment over who won the Oscar. Frankly nothing surprises me about the Oscars, some of the best movies and performances tend to be overlooked for some mediocre movies
I hate this franchise.
shhhhhh, you can’t say that! (I hate it, too. It’s the same movie over and over and over and over and over …)
Fellow disliker here…I’ve watched a couple of the series’ films and managed to stay awake through the first 5 minutes before passing out from pure boredom both times!
I think he was just joking and some journalist missed the humor.
Side note: his voice makes me weak.
Me too. My 75 year old grandma LOVES him! It’s kind of funny that she turns on that spy movie XXX whenever it’s on
Im thinking this was meant as a joke.
Also, I dont think it will even get any tech nods…
PURE YUM. SWOON.
Yes, Furious 7 will win best picture because it will make a lot of money….umm…no…money’s got nothing to do with it, Vin! Look at the movies that were nominated at this past Oscar event….Birdman, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, and American Sniper…the only picture that made any money was American Sniper, and to be honest, I think it only made so much money, because in America, we love our vets and our war heroes, nothing wrong with that, but I didn’t even think it was a particularly good movie (will Clint Eastwood PLEASE retire)! None of the other movies made a dent in box office! Vin MUST have been joking!
In a single sentence, he brought up attention to the movie and made a joke!
The fast and furious movies have profited a lot. We all know it would never get a nomination, it needs to be artsy!
Ps: what about rocky? It wasn’t a great movie…
Rocky I was an amazing movie.
He has done some fun movies and lead a low key life without pap drama. Team Diesel!
Plus his arms mygawd the arms!
Astrid, yes. I’m embarrassed to admit that Vin Diesel is one of my guilty pleasures. I’ll deny it if you quote me! I love the Riddick franchise. One more in the pipeline, I believe.
So true. No hate from me. Plus, I am pretty sure this was a joke, so definitely a non-story!
Lol thats how Vin is, he likes to have fun and joke around.
Such an obvious joke. He’s apparently really bright.
I’m starting to think that Vin Diesel might have the best sense of humor in hollywood. Remember that video of him singing Sam Smith? The guy is hilarious. And he does it all with a straight face. I LOVE him
“Anyhoodle”…………hahahahahaha! Kaiser – you crack me up!!!
He is actually very intelligent. And I remember him telling Craig Ferguson that one of the reasons he keeps doing these movies is to get Hannibal made.
But the gorgeous man is a nerd (so am I) so his jokes don’t always land.
And, damn, that voice.
I think he keeps doing these movies because they’re his only option. Back when he thought he was going to be the next big action star, didn’t he request $20 million for the second film and when they didn’t give it to him, he walked? And then his career went nowhere so he came back to the franchise with his tail between his legs. So I don’t really buy that he is particularly down to earth or humble. And he picked one of the most ridiculous names ever. I don’t know, I’ve just never liked the guy.
But he was smart enough to recognize that establishing himself as a producer would elevate his career.
They’re not his only option. He does them because they’re easy money that funds stuff like Chronicles of Riddick. Which wasn’t a great movie, but it’s a great game. He’s smarter than people realise.
I think this is quite obviously a joke. Vin is like The Rock, he’s very self-aware about the type of movies he does.
I have a great friend who’s a big deal in the industry. Sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. I love begging my friend for all the good juicy gossip, and, as a result, know a lot more about two particular celebs than I should. One is Vin Diesel. He straight up sucks to work with. Really really sucks. Massive ego and sense of entitlement. It says something that my friend is so good natured and will only give good dish on 2 specific celebs. It takes a ton of truly horrendous behavior to make this friend angry (he’s been behind the scenes for over 20 years). A pic of Vin Diesels face is taped to my friends dartboard…heehee. The other celeb is Angie Jolie and I value my life on this web site too much to give out any of those deets. Y’all would internet stab my ass right before you made me make out w Miles Teller. Ewwwwwww
so we just have to take your friend’s word that Vin and Angie are evil? Uh huh.
Vin taught Judi Dench to play D&D on the set of Chronicles of Riddick. That’s not exactly evil.