When “La La Land” was wrongly named the Best Picture winner at the 2017 Oscars on Sunday night, the world stood still for a little. Some went as far to say the flub was the biggest shocker in recent Oscars history.
According to a Fandango survey of more than 1,000 moviegoers who watched the 89th Academy Awards, 72 percent said the moment was the most shocking moment in the recent history of the show.
67 percent of those surveyed said “Moonlight’s” Best Picture win was the “biggest surprise” of the night.
On Sunday, Warren Beatty and co-presenter Faye Dunaway erroneously named “La La Land” the Best Picture. All three producers on Damien Chazelle’s musical were concluding their acceptance speeches when people started to realize there had been a mistake — and “Moonlight” was actually the big winner of the night.
“This is not a joke. ‘Moonlight’ has won best picture,” said “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz. The musical team quickly welcomed director Barry Jenkins and the stars of the film onstage, letting them have their own Best Picture moment.
The Oscars’ accounting firm, PwC, released a statement taking the blame for the error that led to “La La Land” being incorrectly named the Best Picture.
“The surprise twist ending at the Oscars last night unfortunately overshadowed what was a genuinely entertaining and positive show, upstaging the inclusiveness that the Academy worked so hard to promote,” says Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis. “But the Best Picture snafu was one of those moments of spontaneity that will resonate with audiences and get them to watch the Oscars in the future. It got people to engage with the show, and that’s a good thing – and it reinforced the notion that Oscars spread the love around to different movies this year. It could also have a positive impact in getting more people to see ‘Moonlight,’ the movie that surprised the world.”
The Fandango survey also found that 84 percent of surveyed moviegoers thought host Jimmy Kimmel did a good job, ranking him as the second best Oscar host after Ellen DeGeneres. 60 percent thought “Fences” actress Viola Davis gave the best acceptance speech after winning Best Supporting Actress.
42 percent said Justin Timberlake’s performance of “Can’t Stop the Feeling” was the show’s most memorable presentation of Best Original Song.