There was no envelop mix-up at the Oscars yesterday, but there was some confusion in the audience when Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer had won best picture.
The Godfather star revealed the winner of the night's top prize by saying, "Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture. I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer. Yes. Yes."
Pacino's quick and casual announcement seemed to give some in the Dolby Theatre pause before the audience began to applaud and the orchestra started playing as the cast and crew of Oppenheimer made their way to the stage.
A source close to production told CNN on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) that as part of a "predetermined creative decision," Pacino was "never supposed to announce the nominees" before revealing the winner.
Instead, in an effort to keep the show from running over at the end of the night, clips from several of the best picture nominees ran throughout the Oscars broadcast.
(The show ended up finishing early.)
Pacino was given direction to be fairly swift on the stage, according to this production source, but the way he delivered the line was just Pacino's own spin.
"The way he announced it at the end was just Al Pacino being Pacino," the individual said.
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Moments before Pacino took the stage, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel had made a joke about needing to tear up the envelope that had Emma Stone's name on it for best actress for Poor Things, a reference to the best picture mix-up of 2017, when La La Land was accidentally named the winner before it was announced that Moonlight had actually won.
According to Bill Kramer, chief executive of the Academy, Pacino's delivery was no repeat of past Oscar drama.
"Everything went beautifully," Kramer told the New York Times. "He was just having fun up there."
CNN has reached out to representatives for Pacino for comment.
