At the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are getting a mulligan: the Bonnie and Clyde pair will present the Oscar for best picture again, one year after they infamously announced La La Land, instead of the actual winner, Moonlight.
Last year Beatty and Dunaway presented the night’s top honor to mark the 50th anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde. When Beatty hesitated to announce the winner, visibly confused by the contents on the card, Dunaway read off La La Land as best picture. The mistake was attributed to the accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers, who mixed up the envelope for best actress, won by La La Land’s Emma Stone, with that of best picture.
For several minutes the mistake went unaccounted for, as the cast of La La Land gave speeches on the stage. Then, producer Jordan Horowitz corrected the record, telling the the audience there had been a mistake and that Moonlight had won the award.
This year, the Academy has streamlined its processes to prevent another mistake. But Beatty and Dunaway, evidently, will get a second chance to announce the prestigious award. On Thursday evening, TMZ learned that the two were spotted rehearsing at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where Dunaway said “presenting is better the second time around”. Beatty replied: “The winner is Gone with the Wind.”
Other confirmed presenters during this year’s telecast include Sandra Bullock, Lupita Nyong’o, Emily Blunt, Armie Hammer, Tiffany Haddish, Jodie Foster and Gal Gadot, while the ceremony will again be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Guillermo del Toro’s 60s-set romantic fantasy The Shape of Water leads the way with 13 nominations.