Oscar fans ‘obsessed’ with Al Pacino’s wild ‘Oppenheimer’ announcement

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Al Pacino was the final presenter at Sunday’s Academy Awards. But the casual way in which he announced Oppenheimer as this year’s best picture winner sparked confusion in the audience and plenty of jokes on social media.

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After the awards for best actress and actor featured lengthy presentations that brought back past winners to celebrate the nominees, Pacino took to the stage to hand out the evening’s last award.

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But instead of listing all the nominees by name, Pacino only said: “Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture.”

There were 10 nominees this year, including Killers of the Flower Moon, The Holdovers, American Fiction, Poor Things, Past Lives, The Zone of Interest, Barbie, Anatomy of a Fall, Maestro and, of course, the eventual winner, Oppenheimer.

Pacino then continued: “Uh, I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer. Yes, Emma Thomas.”

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Sure enough, the awkward introduction became one of the night’s most viral moments.

“Al Pacino announcing Oppenheimer’s best picture win with the casualness of announcing what he wants to eat for dinner at Chili’s is why I watch the Oscars,” one viewer wrote.

“Al Pacino not even presenting the rest of the nominations and going straight to the winner is such a hilarious yet Oscar worthy performance in its own right,” another person joked.

“I’m obsessed with the way Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer as Best Picture. Couldn’t have been more chaotic or confusing lol,” one watcher added.

Others called it “all kinds of awkward,” with several people wondering if the screen legend was “drunk.”

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“Let drunk Pacino announce Best Picture every year til he dies,” one fan declared.

From the seemingly confused way he said the title, some wondered if The Godfather star had even heard of the winning film, which grossed nearly a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.

“Al Pacino announced Best Picture like this was the first time he had ever heard of a film called Oppenheimer,” a user quipped.

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On Reddit, one couch potato surmised: “I swear the Oscars are in competition to announce best picture in the weirdest way possible.”

Christine Vachon, a producer on Past Lives, raised a glass to toast her film afterwards, writing: “Cheers — a great day even though I wish we had gotten to hear our names as best pix nominees!”

Pacino’s flub echoed Elizabeth Taylor’s from 2001, when she announced the best motion picture — drama category at the 2001 Golden Globes. While the teleprompter listed the names of the nominees — including Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Billy Elliott, Wonder Boys, Sunshine and the winning film Gladiator — she opened the envelope instead.

“I just read it from up there?” she asked the crowd, pointing at the teleprompter. “What is this for?” she continued as she held the envelope in her hand.

Actor Jeff Bridges then came to her rescue. “Read the nominees first,” he advised.

“Oh, I see,” Taylor replied quickly before announcing the nominated films.

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