Who won best picture at the Oscars? Al Pacino's announcement sparks confusion
The 2024 Oscars ended on an anticlimactic note, and not just because of the winner itself.
Al Pacino sparked confusion, and lots of memes, with the unexpectedly casual way he announced "Oppenheimer" had won best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards.
The "Godfather" star, 83, was brought on stage to announce the final award of the night, best picture, which is traditionally revealed after a dramatic buildup sometimes accompanied by a drumroll for added effect.
Instead, Pacino quickly opened the envelope and immediately blurted out "Oppenheimer" without preceding the film's title by the traditional "and the Oscar goes to." He also did not read the names of any of the other best picture nominees.
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"Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture," Pacino said. "And I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see 'Oppenheimer.' Yes. Yes."
The audience appeared confused about whether Pacino had, in fact, just announced the winner, and it took a moment for the orchestra to kick in and for the "Oppenheimer" nominees to begin making their way to the stage.
Pacino's confusing delivery immediately sparked a wave of memes on social media, as viewers joked that he was trying to wrap the show up as quickly as possible. "Al Pacino had a 7:30pm reservation at Musso & Frank, he needed to move things along," critic Richard Roeper posted on X, referencing the actor's role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."
One X user described this as the "most anti-climactic oscar win ever," while another post summed up Pacino's attitude as, "Sure whatever it's Oppenheimer ok bye bye."
"Oppenheimer" was widely expected to win the best picture Oscar, adding to the anticlimactic nature of the end of the ceremony. Christopher Nolan also won best director for the historical epic, while stars Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy won best supporting actor and best actor, respectively.
Thanks to Pacino, this was the latest Academy Awards broadcast to end on a confusing, anticlimactic note after best actor was presented last at the end of the 2021 Oscars instead of best picture, only for the surprise winner, Anthony Hopkins, to not even be present to accept the award.