Movies News

Chris Rock won't return to Oscars in March

Dec 10, 2005, 14:43 GMT

Los Angeles - Comedian Chris Rock, who aimed satiric barbs at the bread-giver - Hollywood - at this year's Academy Awards ceremony, won't be returning as host next year, according to The New York Times Friday.

Rock's spokesman, Matt Labov, said Rock 'didn't want to do it in perpetuity. He'd like to do it again down the road.'

Rock was brought in last year to recapture the youth audience for the Oscars, after the audience slid by 21 per cent in 2004. He at least stopped the slump, and the audience dipped only 5 per cent, the Times reported.

But some of his unorthodox approaches, like taking a camera crew to a movie theatre in a black neighbourhood in Los Angeles to see how many people had seen any of the top film nominees, and dismissing Spiderman star Tobey Maguire as a 'boy in tights', drew complaints from members of the Motion Picture Academy.

The film industry is experiencing its worst slump in decades, with profits and movie attendance falling precipitously.