Entertainment

The Academy Claims Its Confusing Oscars Predictions Tweet Was an Accident

The now-deleted tweet suggested Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' would win Best Picture.
Bettina Makalintal
Brooklyn, US
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Screenshots via trailer

As some people refreshed their political feeds frantically in the mess of last night's Iowa Caucus, Film Twitter was also having a moment, brought on by a mind-boggling tweet from the Academy's official account. The tweet showed an image titled "My Oscar Predictions," and it left some people wondering if Oscars spoilers were suddenly at play.

Those predictions included wins by Sam Mendes for Directing (1917), Joaquin Phoenix for Actor in a Leading Role (Joker), Renée Zellweger for Actress in a Leading Role (Judy), and Bong Joon Ho's Parasite for Best Picture. That's not far off from what forecasters like Rolling Stone's Peter Travers and AwardsWatch's Erik Anderson have suggested, leading credence to the idea that the Academy had just tweeted the results a few days too soon. (Though the Academy has since deleted the post, IndieWire managed to save the entire list.)

That tweet was a flub, the Academy wrote this morning. As part of a new campaign, the account will be sharing fans' Oscars predictions, and it simply tweeted one person's response in error, making it seem like the predictions were the views of the Academy. Voting for the awards doesn't even end until today at 5 p.m. PST, according to Deadline, who also pointed out that it's been just three years since the Academy's unforgettable mix-up over Moonlight and La La Land for the Best Picture win.

As for just how much the Oscars will mirror the Academy's accidental tweet, we'll have to wait until this weekend to find out, though it seems safe to conclude that the critically-beloved Mendes, Phoenix, and Parasite will all rack up some wins. The 92nd Academy Awards air on Sunday.