Brad Pitt Takes Home Early Oscar for ‘Once Upon a Time’

(Bloomberg) -- Brad Pitt won the Academy Award for his supporting role in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood,” giving the Sony Corp. film an early win in a tight contest for best picture, Hollywood’s highest honor.

The Oscar was the first handed out at the 92nd Academy Awards Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. With his seventh nomination and first win for acting, Pitt was honored for his portrayal of stunt double Cliff Booth. The film, written and directed by Tarantino, faces off against eight other films, including the World War I epic “1917” and South Korean thriller “Parasite,” the favorites at some websites that post odds.

The evening may turn out to be a showdown between old and new Hollywood. Netflix Inc. garnered the most nominations of any studio, with 24, and has spent heavily promoting its two best-picture hopefuls this year -- “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story.” Walt Disney Co., second with 23 nominations, won best animated feature for “Toy Story 4.”

Taking home the top Oscar would help Netflix bring in subscribers and attract talent for new projects. The company was also the most nominated studio at the Golden Globes, but failed to grab the biggest prizes of the night.

Pitt’s co-star in “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood,” Leonardo DiCaprio, competes later in the evening for the best actor award against other nominees including favorite Joaquin Phoenix and Antonio Banderas.

The second host-free Oscars ceremony opened by taking on some Hollywood controversies head on. Only one of 20 acting nominations this year was for a black performer, leading presenters Steve Martin and Chris Rock to deliver barbs in an opening exchange that criticized the slow progress.

Opening Dance

Moments before, Janelle Monae, the actress and singer who performed an opening number celebrating the year’s top films, made a point of calling out the absence of women among the nominees for best director.

But the early awards showed some progress on that front. Bong Joon Ho and his co-screenwriter won the award for best original screenplay for “Parasite,” the first Oscar for South Korea, with Bong using English translator in accepting the award.

Taika Waititi won best adapted screenplay for “JoJo Rabbit,” a tale about a German family that hides a Jewish girl in World War II. His father is of Maori descent and he dedicated his best adapted screenplay award to indigenous children who want to be artists.

Still the zingers are unlikely to end there. Pitt, in his acceptance speech, brought up President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearing, criticizing Republican senators for disallowing witnesses to testify.

“I was really disappointed with this week. I think when gamesmanship trumps doing the right thing,” Pitt said. “It’s a sad day.”

“1917” is the favorite for best picture at 5-1, according to the website Gold Derby, followed by “Parasite” at 11-2 and Tarantino’s entry at 7-1. The others, including “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Little Women” and “Ford v Ferrari,” face longer odds.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.