Second time’s the charm? Moonlight will be presented with the Best Picture award again at the 2018 Oscars on Sunday, March 4, and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway will get a second chance to announce the Best Picture winner after the disastrous mix-up that rocked last year’s ceremony, a source exclusively reveals to Us Weekly.
“The Academy is giving Moonlight a proper chance to reaccept their Oscar award,” the source tells Us. “It will be presented to the cast again as the first award of the night.”
Beatty and Dunaway were spotted rehearsing for the award show at the Dolby Theater on Thursday, March 1. The Bonnie and Clyde costars famously bungled the announcement last year when they called out La La Land as the Best Picture recipient instead of the actual winner, Moonlight. The 77-year-old Oscar-winning actress said La La Land’s name — after Beatty passed her the envelope in confusion. Producer Jordan Horowitz was in the middle of his acceptance speech before reality set in.
Horowitz told the crowd once the error had been realized, “There’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture.” Director Damien Chazelle walked off stage while Ryan Gosling began to chuckle. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins and the movie’s cast and producers then accepted the award.
Beatty, 80, explained to the audience of shocked industry veterans at the time, “I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land. That’s why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny.” Stone had just won Best Actress in the category before Best Picture.
Dunaway, meanwhile, said of the incident in April 2017 on NBC Nightly News: “I was very guilty, I could have done something surely. Why didn’t I see Emma Stone’s name on the top of the card?”
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm responsible for the winner envelopes, announced new regulations that hopefully will prevent any future errors. In addition to forbidding the use of cell phones and social media backstage at the ceremony, presenters and a stage manager will confirm the correct envelope is going on stage before an award is presented.
The Academy Awards air on ABC Sunday, March 4, at 8 p.m. ET.
