2024 Oscars: Al Pacino Divides the Internet With Best Picture Announcement

Say hello to Al Pacino at the 2024 Oscars.

While the Hollywood legend received a standing ovation at the Dolby Theatre March 10, he left the internet stumped with his unconventional approach to presenting the Best Picture award. (Click here for the complete list of winners and see all the red carpet arrivals here.)

Traditionally, the presenter would list the nominees in the category before announcing the winner. However, Pacino did not when he took the stage, instead telling the audience, "Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for Best Picture—and I have to go to the envelope for that."

The 83-year-old also opted to forgo building up fanfare. Upon opening the envelope, the Scarface star simply said, "My eyes see Oppenheimer."

A source with knowledge tells E! News his presenting style was decided ahead of time as a creative direction.

Needless to say, fans had varying opinions of how the night's biggest prize was handled after sitting through a three-and-a-half hour ceremony.

"Most anti-climatic Best Picture announcement ever," one Oscar watcher wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I wanted to see all of the nominees."

photosOscars 2024: Red Carpet Fashion

Meanwhile, another spectator wondered if the actor had forgotten to announce the nominees, writing, "Did Al Pacino just mess up the biggest category of the evening???" 

Rich Polk/Variety via Getty Images

However, some viewers were tickled by Pacino's unique delivery, with one X user affectionately saying that it "couldn't have been more chaotic or confusing."

"I'm obsessed with the way Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer as Best Picture," the viewer wrote, while second fan jokingly called it an "Oscar worthy performance in its own right."

Added a third Oscars viewer, "I was screaming at the television."

Ultimately, Oppenheimer beat out beat out nominees American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest for Best Picture.

Trending Stories

1

Jennie Garth Briefly Addresses Dan Schneider & Costar Amanda Bynes

2

Why Paris Hilton and Carter Reum Don't Share Photos of Daughter London

3

YouTuber Aspyn Ovard Files for Divorce Amid Birth of Baby No. 3

John Shearer/WireImage

The J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic—which stars Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Florence Pugh—also earned filmmaker Christopher Nolan is first-ever Best Director Oscar. In the acting categories, Murphy nabbed the Best Actor prize, while RDJ was honored with the title of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.

"Any of us who make movies know that you kind of dream of this moment," Oppenheimer producer Emma Thomas—who is married to Nolan—told the crowd during her Best Picture acceptance speech. "I have dreaming about this moment for so long, but it seemed so unlikely that it would ever actually happened. And now I'm standing here, everything's kind of gone out of my head."

 To see who else won big at the Oscars, keep reading.

Head to E! Online's Oscars page for a full recap of the 2024 Academy Awards.