Chaos at the Oscars: Al Pacino announces Oppenheimer as Best Picture without opening the envelope
11 March 2024, 06:46 | Updated: 11 March 2024, 08:52
Al Pacino had an awkward on-stage moment after reading out the winner of Best Picture before the list of nominees.
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The Godfather star, 83, made a blunder on Sunday evening as he was tasked with announcing the winner of the most coveted award at the Oscars.
The actor took to the stage to announce the winner of the Best Picture category - but jumped the gun as he skipped over all the nominees and went straight to the winner, Oppenheimer.
Taking to the stage, he said: “Ten wonderful films are nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture.
“And I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer? Yes!”
The film’s director Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas headed straight to the stage to accept the award despite the blunder.
Social media users were left divided over the incident, as one user said the award presentation “couldn't have been more chaotic or confusing”.
Read more: 'Terrifying' reason TV presenter Cat Deeley returned to UK after 14 years in US
While another complained: “Did a crappy job! Did not even introduce the nominees.”
It was director Christopher Nolan’s first Oscar for the three-hour epic Oppenheimer, about about J Robert Oppenheimer - dubbed the 'father of the atomic bomb'.
Accepting the award, Nolan said: “Movies are just a little bit over 100 years old. We don't know where this incredible journey is going from here. But to know that you think I'm a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”
He ended the speech with a shoutout to his wife Emma who produced the award-winning film.
Nolan also took home the award of best director for the biopic which swept the Oscars, winning seven awards over the evening.
Meanwhile Oppenheimer’s star, Cillian Murphy, took home the Oscar for best actor.
Murphy, 47, kissed his wife, the artist Yvonne McGuinness, before heading to the stage, where he said making the film had "been the wildest, most creatively satisfying journey".
Accepting the gong, the actor said he was “a very proud Irishman” and dedicated the award “to the peacemakers everywhere”.
Elsewhere, Emma Stone was named best actress for the surreal comedy Poor Things, about a woman who is given the brain of a baby.
After thanking her family, she saved her final thanks for "my daughter, who is going to be three in three days and who turned our whole lives technicolour".
