Neil Patrick Harris says he'll host Oscars in 2015

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Neil Patrick Harris is going for an awards-show trifecta, set to host the 2015 Oscars after four hosting stints at Broadway's Tony Awards and two at TV's Primetime Emmy Awards.

"To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true," Harris said in a statement Wednesday released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The 41-year-old entertainer announced his Oscar gig online Wednesday. He posted a video on Twitter of him on the phone saying, "I'm in," then showing a close-up of his bucket list and circling "Host the Oscars."

Academy Awards co-producer Neil Meron confirmed the casting on Twitter. He and co-producer Craig Zadan said they've known Harris "his entire adult life."

"We have watched him explode as a great performer in feature films, television and stage," the producing pair said in the academy statement. "To work with him on the Oscars is the perfect storm, all of his resources and talent coming together on a global stage."

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs called Harris "the consummate entertainer."

The Tony Awards telecast won Emmys all four years that Harris hosted and helped produce the program.

It's been a busy week for the multi-hyphenate star, who released his book, "Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography," on Tuesday. He also appears in the nation's top movie, "Gone Girl."

He wrapped his hit series "How I Met Your Mother" earlier this year and won a Tony Award for his starring role in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

The 87th Academy Awards are set for Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.