‘War Horse’ Tony Wins Make Movie Version an Early Oscar Favorite

The Tony Awards are rarely considered as a predictor of Oscar glory. (That honor goes generally to film festivals and other film awards ceremonies-centric.) But, Tony, last night's near-sweep by the war on horseback, a play about the vicissitudes of a horse in a Europe devastated by World War I, could signal major success screen when the film version released in December. And it is certainly not hurt that Steven Spielberg is the director.
War Horse, based on the 1982 book of the same name by Michael Morpurgo, picked up five awards, including best play, and has been accumulating since its inception similar price in 2007 in the United Kingdom. Already, the Spielberg film, starring newcomer Jeremy Irvine that the young man who seeks the charred ruins of war-torn France for his beloved horse, is a lock to pick up a nomination for best picture -that is Steven Spielberg and war, after all, but yesterday's win gives the film a big favorite.

Despite all the adulation, War Horse is still a property to explore for many audiences, but some believe Spielberg's take on it make the story a cultural phenomenon. For us, the first 27 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, when the storm troops of the allies on the beaches of Normandy, still some of the most visceral and brutally realistic film we've ever seen. There's a part in war on horseback, where the character is in so-called No Man's Land, that hell purgatory between the trenches on the battlefield of World War I, and we're jonesing to see what he can do with this kind of terror. Anyway, let's Oscar anticipation begin!