A few days ago it was reported that Brett Ratner, who was chosen to produce the 84th annual Academy Awards along with Don Mischer, wanted Eddie Murphy to host this year’s Oscars. At the time, it was just Ratner’s choice for the job and multiple other candidates were said to be possibles, but now it’s a much more official selection.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts Sciences made the announcement earlier today, confirming that Ratner’s choice was the one they liked best for the job. It’s no secret that the organization has been attempting to appeal to younger audiences the last few years, and obviously they’re hoping that the classic Eddie Murpy humor will shine brightly when the awards air on February 26, 2012.

Deadline has learned that when Brett Ratner, the director of such titles as X–Men: The Last Stand, Red Dragon, and all three Rush Hour flicks, meets with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences this Tuesday to discuss who he thinks would be a good choice to host the 84th annual Academy Awards, he’s going to push for Eddie Murphy. Ratner was chosen by the Academy in early August to produce the ceremony along with Don Mischer.

This doesn’t mean that Murphy is hosting for sure yet””only that his name will be in the mix with whomever Mischer also suggests. According to sources, Mischer has a plethora of “big names” interested in hosting that he’s talking to.

Shrek The Halls
DVD
Directed Gary Trousdale
Starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 4, 2008

This 22-minute holiday tale, which originally aired on television in November 2007, takes place after the events of the animated motion picture Shrek the Third, and finds the big green ogre Shrek (Mike Myers) living happily ever after with his true love Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and their little green ogre babies.

While life’s been good for the big guy, he still doesn’t really know how to get into the Christmas spirit, and at first, Shrek doesn’t want to be bothered celebrating, but to make Fiona happy, he tries to be festive. Of course, the ever-pestering Donkey (Eddie Murphy) overdoes it and brings all the fairy tale creatures for party at Shrek’s home, much to the ogre’s dismay.

It turns out that Shrek doesn’t know how to celebrate the holiday and doesn’t even know the true meaning of Christmas, so it’s up to his friends and family to teach him by example.

Shrek The Final Chapter
Directed by Mike Mitchell
Starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas
Rated PG
Release date: May 21, 2010

I was watching TV the other night with a friend of mine and a trailer for Shrek The Final Chapter came on. He’s not what you call attentive, so when he looked at me and said, “There’s a new Shrek movie coming out?” I wasn’t surprised. But his response when I confirmed it was oddly insightful — he simply asked, “Why?” It might be a good question since the series was wrapped up nicely with the last three movies, but if you think the answer is anything but money, you’re crazy.

So how do you advance a series that has nowhere else to go because the characters have everything they have wanted for three movies? Why, an alternate universe, of course.

After a quick scene to catch everyone we see Shrek and friends just living life. Everything is going as it should, or at least how they wanted it. Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Dragon are tending to their respective clans. Everything is good until Shrek starts feeling like every day is the same and remembers a time when his level of self-worth was much higher. People used to be scared of ogres. His life used to have purpose. Ah, the good old days”¦

Paramount Pictures has released a batch of new posters from the upcoming fourth film in their Ogre with a heart of gold franchise, Shrek Forever After.

Most of these new posters are actually pretty awesome, but that could just be because I’m a big Shrek fan. It can’t be denied that Shrek the Third was a swing and a miss, but the first two were a ton of fun, and we can only hope for a return to form with this one. It will really all depend on if filmmakers reacted to the negativity with positive action, or if they just want to cash-in one last time. For integrity’s sake, let’s hope for the former.

Take a magical journey over to the other side to see the four new posters from Shrek Forever After now!