In a year that feels weirder, longer, and more confusing than ever, Sausage Party seems like a pretty good representation of 2016. When Seth Rogen's stoner brainchild was released in August, one Refinery29 editor described it as "culled from the most perverse corners of the male mind, the movie is a raunchy, phallic overload, full of lowbrow wordplay and general filth. It tells the story of anthropomorphized grocery items that find out what really happens when they leave the store."
Now, as we enter full-fledged Oscar season, Sony Film is making it very clear that they want the R-rated animated film to win an Oscar. Because, at this point, why the hell not?
If it is nominated, it would be the first movie to feature a fruit on vegetable orgy scene to be up for the highest honor in Hollywood. "Academy members are way smarter and more forward-thinking than people realize," Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman told The Hollywood Reporter. "They want to recognize bold, original, risky breakthroughs, and that’s what Sausage Party is, however subversive. Plus, it’s just plain cool."
To promote the film, Sony has been sending out screeners of the film, buying ads, and mailing copies of Alan Menken's (of Disney movie soundtrack fame) original song for the film, "The Great Beyond."
It sounds pretty bogus, especially considering other films in the conversation like Barry Jenkin's Moonlight, a beautiful modern coming-of-age story, and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's heart-warming side-by-side performance in the musical, La La Land. But, the film did gross $135 million worldwide, which makes it THE MOST commercially successful R-rated animated film EVER.
But the real goal of the campaign, Rogen jokes, is a simple one: "We all want to meet Leonardo DiCaprio."