An Oscars season which is already grappling with a much shorter season saw one contender today either throw a wrench or a winning lob into her own campaign. The NFL and Pepsi announced today that Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will co-headline the Super Bowl 2020 Halftime show in Miami, Fl on Feb. 2. They are the first women to co-headline the Super Bowl and the first female performers since Lady Gaga in 2017. For Lopez though, it potentially pits a historic Oscar win vs. a historic performance to a U.S. audience estimated at 100 million viewers.
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Word is that before “Hustler’s” Toronto International Film Festival bow, Lopez was not expecting the euphoric reviews and proclimations of an Oscar nomiantion for her role as Ramona in Lorene Scafaria’s true life drama. Not only has the picture become a significant hit (already at $77 million global after just 13 days of release), but after Steven Soderbergh’s “Out of Sight” it’s far and away the most critically acclaimed film of her career. Even with expected competition from “Marriage Story’s” Laura Dern (already campaigning hard and with a Gotham Awards tribute on deck), “Bombshell’s” Margot Robbie, “Little Women’s” Florence Pugh and “Waves'” Taylor Russell, among others, many would now be shocked if Lopez didn’t earn her first Academy Award nomination. The question now is how does the Super Bowl promotion and rehearsals affect her campaigning?
This may seem like a silly subject at first glance, but for STX Entertainment, which has a lot riding on their relationship with Lopez and proving to Hollywood they are here for the long run, any Oscar accolades for “Hustlers” equals uniquely tangible returns. The hottest “must be seen” ticket is the Governors Awards on October 27. Lopez needs to be there. She also should balance out her Super Bowl promo by doing the inevitable circuit. Presenting at the afforementioned Gotham Awards, the Palm Springs Film Festival Gala, participating in either THR or Envelope’s actors roundtables, etc. would help balance out what should be a whirlwind of Super Bowl promos including a rumored new single with Shakira (Note: the BAFTA Awards are the same day as the Super Bowl so that’s one event she won’t make). If Lady Gaga could fit in these sorts of awards campaign events around debut of her massive Las Vegas residency show Enigma, which opened on Dec 18 of last year, than Lopez should be able to find a manageble blance as well.
Gaga’s “Shallow” won Best Original Song, but the pop diva did not have to deal with the shortened voting window in phase 2 that plagues the season. This year, final voting will last from just Thursday, Jan 30 through Tuesday, Feb. 4. That means the last three days of voting will take place on the Super Bown itself and the immediate 48 hours following. What if Lopez is simply bad during the Halftime performance? What if there is an planned “Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake” moment? Could any negative aspect of the show affect her chances of winning? Maybe or maybe not, but those prospects would certainly provide many studio publicists and awards consultants with some very sleepless nights.
Perhaps the shortened window means AMPAS members will pretty much make up their minds during phase one and simply make the same picks the second go around. Perhaps natural award season momentum will find another actress taking the key honors (SAG, BAFTA, Golden Globes), beforehand and making Lopez’s chances of winning moot. Maybe Lopez will become such a frontrunner it simply won’t matter (although campaigning would likely lead to that). Whatever the case, neither Lopez, her fans or STX will have to wait long to find out. The 2020 Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, February 9, just a week after the Super Bowl. Assuming she’s even nominated, of course.