THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 24 JANUARY 2020 AWARDS 1
JOHANSSON: LARRYHORRI
CKS/TWENTIETH^ C
ENTURYFOX.^ WAIT
ITI:^KIMBERLEYFRENCH/TWENTIET
H^ CENTURYFO
X.^ NEAL:^ AMAN
DA^EDWARDS/GETTY^ IMAGES^ F
OR^
FIL
M^ INDEPENDENT.A
movie that, on paper
at least, could have
easily gone the way
of Jerry Lewis’ infa-
mous debacle The
Day the Clown Cried, Jojo Rabbit
has defied all odds to become
one of the year’s most beloved
films — an unlikely comedic tale
about a 10-year-old fledgling Nazi
and his imaginary best friend,
Adolf Hitler. The film sprung
from the mind of Taika Waititi,
the New Zealand-based writer-
actor-director, who transformed
the sober 2004 novel Caging Skies
into a World War II-set fairy tale
that, when you least expect it to,
yanks the rug out from under the
audience while delivering a timely
message about ultranationalism
and hate. (Besides writing the
screenplay, Waititi also directed
and plays Hitler in a turn that
owes more than a little to John
Cleese and Mel Brooks.)
Fox Searchlight’s first release
as a division of The Walt Disney
Company, it manages to bridge
the divide perfectly between the
studios: a sharp indie wrapped
inside a tale of timeless inno-
cence. And the results — six
Academy Award nominations,
including best picture, best
adapted screenplay and best
supporting actress for Scarlett
Johansson — speak for them-
selves. THR caught up with Jojo
Rabbit producer Carthew Neal to
discuss the triumph of the little
Holocaust comedy that could.I assume this is your first awards
season. How do you feel about it
so far?
CARTHEW NEAL It is my first. It’s
pretty crazy. But people keep say-
ing, “Oh, it’s so hard. You have to
do this for so long.” And I’m
like, “It’s not as hard as making
a movie!”I could see it being pretty fun, too.
I’m enjoying it and celebrating
From left:
actor Roman
Griffin Davis,
writer-director
Taika Waititi,
actress
Thomasin
McKenzie,
producer
Carthew
Neal and Film
Independent
president
Josh Welsh at
a Jojo Rabbit
screening in
October in
Los Angeles.Jojo Rabbit
A World War II comedy featuring a Nazi youth and his imaginary friend
Adolf Hitler is a surprising crowd-pleaser thanks to its provocative and
timely message about ultranationalism and hate BY SETH ABRAMOVITCHthe fact that more people are
watching our film and having
these great Q&As with people
seeing the film several times. I’m
just loving the fact that more and
more people are seeing the film
and it’s creating discussion. It’s
not just a straight comedy — it
has got a lot to say, and Taika has
got a lot to say with it.Whatever you’re doing, it
appears to be working. You must
be overjoyed about the film’s
Oscar nominations.
It’s incredible. Everyone who
came on board — the cast and all
the crew and Searchlight — came
because of Taika’s script. It was
on the Black List for quite a few
years. It was a much-loved script,
but no one was sure Taika could
pull it off. I’ve never been involved
in a production where there was
that much excitement prior to
starting. That script was so loved
and people were so excited about
it, and it was daunting to attemptto create a movie that was even
better than the script.How did you find out about the
nominations?
A lot of text messages were com-
ing through. A lot of beeping
beside the bed. And then lying in
the dark and trying to read what
was going on. Then I jumped in
the car and ran to Taika’s and we
had a good morning celebrating.
It was fun.Were Oscar nominations something
you hoped might happen while
making Jojo Rabbit?
For me, it was that I loved the
message in the heart of the film.BEST PICTUREVITAL STATSSTUDIO Fox Searchlight
RELEASE DATE Oct. 18
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
$35.1M
DIRECTOR Taika Waititi
CAST
Roman Griffin Davis,
Taika Waititi,
Scarlett Johansson
TOP AWARDS
6 Oscar noms,
6 BAFTA noms, 2 Globe noms,
2 SAG Award noms