Swig your coffee, stockpile your snacks, and if you’re backstage reading this on your phone while you’re supposed to be handling the envelopes, stop right now. The Oscars 2018 are finally here, and Hollywood’s finest are once again turning out at the Dolby Theatre one year on from last year’s unforgettable Best Picture mishap. With Jimmy Kimmel back on presenting duties and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway once again lined up to hand out the Best Picture award, what could possibly go wrong?
Team Empire may not be out in L.A. (Greenwich is close enough, right?) but stick with us as we post all the updates right here as they happen. Will Three Billboards get results? Will Get Out get in? Or will The Shape of Water flood the board? Read below for the latest.
4:50am
As far as we’re aware, The Shape of Water is still the winner of Best Picture.
4:48am
Best Picture goes to… The Shape of Water! “A few weeks ago Steven Spielberg said, if you find yourself in the podium remember that you’re part of a legacy, part of a world of filmmakers and be proud of it,” del Toro says. He dedicated the award to young filmmakers “in every country in the world”. James is sulking, I’m thrilled.
4:40am
Now we’re down to the big one: Best Film. It’s anyone’s game, but it's probably down to the following four — Dunkirk, Get Out, Three Billboards, and The Shape of Water — which have all picked up a few awards each tonight. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty are back to present. Hold you breath, everybody...
4:36am
Frances McDormand gets Best Actress for Three Billboards, her first Oscar since winning for Fargo. “We are a bunch of hooligans, but we do clean up nice,” she says, thanking Martin McDonagh before putting her Oscar on the floor and asking all the women nominated for Oscars to stand up with her.
4:29am
Best Actress time now — and it’s between Sally Hawkins, Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Margot Robbie, and Saoirse Ronan. McDormand is the favourite, but could Hawkins or Ronan sneak in for the win?
4:27am
And as predicted, it’s gone to Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour. “The movies, such as their power, captivated a young man from South London and gave him a dream,” he says, adding a salute to Winston Churchill. “Put the kettle on, I’m bringing Oscar home.”
4:21am
Jane Fonda says the stage looks like the Orgasmatron from Barbarella.
4:19am
Best Actor is next — is Gary Oldman the shoo-in, or will young bucks Timothée Chalamet and Daniel Kaluuya pip him to the post? Or one last win for Daniel Day-Lewis? Kaluuya would be incredible, but Oldman seems extremely likely.
4:16am
And Guillermo del Toro gets his first Best Director win for The Shape of Water! "I am an immigrant," he said in his very emotional speech. "The greatest thing art does is erase the lines in the sand, when the world tells us to make them deeper."
4:14am
Big time. Best Director now, with an incredibly strong category: Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Nolan, Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig, and Paul Thomas Anderson all up for this one. Or, as presenter Emma Stone put it: “Four men and Greta Gerwig.” This could be anyone’s
4:05am
Jennifer Garner is here to present the In Memoriam montage, to a performance by Eddie Vedder singing the late Tom Petty’s Room at the Top.
4:03am
Coco has done it! Sorry, bearded lady.
4:01am
Mary Poppins herself, Emily Blunt, is on-stage alongside her Returns co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda. Have we mentioned that Team Empire loves Lin-Manuel Miranda? Hello, Lin! They’re here to present Best Original Song — will the late surge of popularity for The Greatest Showman be translated into a win?
4:00am
Desplat has de-splatted Greenwood’s chances — Best Score goes to his beautiful Shape of Water suite. Side note: it’s 4am. FOUR AM.
3:59am
Continuing the musical theme, the next award is Best Original Score. Can Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood win for Phantom Thread after his There Will Be Blood score was snubbed on a technicality? He’ll face stiff competition from Alexandre Desplat for The Shape of Water, Hans Zimmer for Dunkirk, John Williams for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Carter Burwell for Three Billboards.
3:52am
The final Best Song performance of the night is here, with Keala Settle singing This is Me from The Greatest Showman. Sing-along Oscar screenings coming soon due to overwhelming demand.
3:49am
Oscar winner Roger Deakins is in the house! Not this house, but the figurative house of Oscar winners. A very well-deserved win for Blade Runner 2049’s cinematography, and he’s just thanked his wife by saying “whatever”. James is thankful he can enjoy the rest of his Diet Cokes.
3:43am
OK, so it’s Cinematography next and if this doesn’t go to Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049 James is going to pour the rest of his Diet Coke down the sink in despair. He’s been nominated 14 times, but never got the win. Deakins that is, not James.
3:38am
GET OUT HAS WON BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY. Jordan Peele is an Oscar winner! For a horror film! About race in America! This is huge. Can he also pick up Best Director and Best Film? The race for the major categories just got even hotter.
3:36am
Best Original Screenplay now. The Big Sick, Get Out, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards are all up for this one.
3:34am
Sorry Hugh — the award for Best Adapted Screenplay goes to James Ivory for Call My By Your Name. “We’ve all gone through first love, and come through the other side mostly intact,” he says, as Timotheé Chalamet looks on glassy-eyed.
3:32am
Adapted Screenplay time. Strong category here, with Call Me By Your Name, The Disaster Artist, Logan, the four-star masterpiece that is Molly’s Game, and Mudbound. We’re secretly rooting for Wolvie. Snikt!
3:30am
Now it’s a montage celebrating the increased diversity of voices in cinema, particularly women and people of colour, with films including Wonder Woman, Black Panther, The Big Sick, Lady Bird and A Fantastic Woman. Totally on point, and Kumail Nanjiani once again proving he’s one of the funniest people in film right now.
3:21am
Andra Day and Common are performing Stand Up to Something from Marshall in the penultimate Best Song performance of the night. Andra Day’s voice is incredible.
3:18am
Rachel Shenton is signing her acceptance speech as she accepts the award for The Silent Child, which focuses on a deaf four year-old girl called Libby.
3:15am
Best Live Action Short Film goes to… The Silent Child.
3:13am
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 has won Documentary Short Subject.
3:12am
Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph have hijacked the show and turned it into their own personal two-woman comedy show, and we’re into it. Step aside, Jimmy.
3:09am
Ansel Elgort is firing hotdogs into a cinema crowd from a cannon. Guillermo del Toro is carrying a giant sandwich over his shoulder. Gal Gadot is making stoner jokes. This sounds like a bunch of things that we’ve just made up, but it’s actually happening right now. Or is it just us?
3:02am
Jimmy Kimmel is leading a group of Oscar types to surprise an audience at the TCL Chinese Theatre next door to the ceremony. Is this going to take long? There’s a lot of awards still to go, and we’re already dangerously low on guac.
2:57am
And the Oscar for Best Editing goes to Dunkirk, coming ahead of Baby Driver. That’s the third win for Christopher Nolan’s film — will he get his first ever Director Oscar later in the ceremony?
2:55am
The first upset of the night: Blade Runner 2049 has bagged Visual Effects, and while it’s critically-acclaimed and beautiful-looking film, this one looked like it would have War for the Planet of the Apes all over it. Andy Serkis’ performance-capture has missed out for tonight, but his work across the trilogy has hugely changed blockbuster filming.
2:53am
Visual Effects up now, and it’s a genre-heavy category. Star Wars: the Last Jedi, Guardians Vol. 2, War for the Planet of the Apes, Blade Runner 2049, and Kong: Skull Island are all nominated.
2:49am
It’s nearly halfway through the ceremony. Time to crack open the cookies.
2:45am
It’s sing-song time again. This time it’s Sufjan Stevens performing Mystery of Love from Call Me By Your Name. It’s lovely and lilting, but to be honest we could do with a pop banger to keep us awake as it nears 3am.
2:41am
And the winner is: The Boss Baby! Oh, no wait it’s Coco. Lovely, lovely Coco.
2:40am
It’s animated film time. This is it. The moment where The Boss Baby could become The Oscar-Winning Boss Baby. Where were you when The Boss Baby got an Oscar?
2:39am
Mark Hamill presents Animated Short Film to the Dear Basketball team, including Kobe Bryant. “Don’t say La La Land, don’t say La La Land…”
2:37am
BB-8 IS ROLLING ONTO THE STAGE RIGHT NOW. And Mark Hamill and Kelly Marie Tran and Oscar Isaac are here too. Well, we think Mark Hamill’s here, maybe he’s force-projecting.
2:31am
Surprising absolutely nobody, Allison Janney has won Best Supporting Actress for I, Tonya. “I did it all by myself,” she deadpans, getting one of the biggest applauses of the night.
2:25am
Wait, it’s Foreign Language Film first instead. And the winner is A Fantastic Woman, which just came out in the UK this past weekend, so you can catch it on the big screen. Director Sebastiàn Lelio calls lead actress Daniela Vega an “inspiration”.
2:20am
We’re getting to the bigger categories now — time for Best Supporting Actress. Up for this are Mary J Blige (Mudbound), Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water), Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird), Allison Janney (I, Tonya), and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread). An incredible line-up there, but Janney or Metcalf seem most likely to take this one.
2:15am
Another Best Song performance - this time it's Remember Me from Coco. No, you’re crying.
2:11am
The winner of Production Design is The Shape of Water. It’s incredible that the film was shot for just $20 million.
2:09am
Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani presenting this one, and making everyone in this room right feel like the ugliest people in the world. Thanks guys. Note to self: buy Lupita’s glasses after we’ve picked up Laura Dern’s.
2:07am
Production Design next. Beauty and the Beast, Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, Darkest Hour, The Shape of Water are all up for it. Will it be the first win for Guillermo’s film?
2:02am
Sound Mixing now. This one goes to Dunkirk… again. The thing we just wrote about the gunshot? That, again.
1:59am
And the winner of Sound Editing is… Dunkirk. Shoutout to Richard King and Alex Gibson, who made everyone jump out of their skin at the first gunshot in the opening scenes.
1:57am
Ansel Elgort presenting Sound Editing and Sound Mixing with Eiza Gonzalez. Sadly not with a pair of Apple earbuds in.
1:54am
There’s a big ol’ montage happening right now. Even Rocky had a montage. We don’t really know what it’s for, but it’s very nice. Films are good aren’t they?
1:51am
Sound Mixing up next — will this be Baby Driver’s category? Or will it go to Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, or Star Wars: The Last Jedi
1:44am
Mary J Blige is performing her song Mighty River from Mudbound. She’s up for Best Supporting Actress later in the ceremony — the first time someone’s ever been up for both of those categories in the same year.
1:41am
And the Oscar for Best Documentary goes to… Icarus a cycling doping scandal doc with ties to Russian cover-ups by director Bryan Fogel. The film is on Netflix, so you can watch it right now! But please stick with us for a few more hours first.
1:39am
Greta Gerwig and Laura Dern presenting Best Documentary. What an amazing pair. Where can we get Laura Dern’s glasses?
1:36am
Getting flashbacks to Helen Mirren standing next to a jetski on the Oscars stage. Did that happen, or did Chris put something in that mushroom stew he just gave us all?
1:32am
And the winner of Costume Design is… Phantom Thread, with Mark Bridges taking the prize. Cue five minutes of us trying to tell James that it’s not just a film about sewing, even though the sewing just won an Oscar.
1:30am
Costume Design now. How is Thor: Ragnarok not up for this, for Jeff Goldblum alone?
1:26am
Now it’s Makeup and Hairstyling. The Oscar goes to… Darkest Hour, for Gary Oldman’s Churchill-ification. Pretty impressive how they turned him into the bulldog from the old insurance adverts.
1:25am
Lakeith Stanfield just ran onstage shouting GET OUT! to warn winners off giving lengthy speeches. That was a thing.
1:19am
Sam Rockwell thanks “everybody who’s ever looked at a billboard”. You’re welcome, Sam.
1:18am
Sam Rockwell bags it for Three Billboards. It’s his first Oscar, and likely the first of many wins for Martin McDonagh’s film tonight. “I’d like to thank the Academy. Never thought I’d get to say those words!”
1:15am
First up, it’s Best Supporting Actor. Three Billboards has Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson up for it, as well as Christopher Plummer for All the Money in the World, Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project, and Richard Jenkins for The Shape of Water.
And the winner is…
1:10am
Kimmel is on a roll here. “Timothée is missing Paw Patrol to be here tonight.”
1:05am
“That’s the kind of men we need more of right now,” Kimmel says, pointing out the Oscar statue’s lack of penis. Pitch-perfect opening monologue.
1:02am
And we’re off! After an awkward intro reel, Jimmy Kimmel is on the stage for the opening monologue. “It won’t happen again this year,” he says about that mess-up last year. Fate = tempted.
12:45am
Fifteen minutes until it all kicks off. Our final predictions for Best Picture stand thus:
Ally: Three Billboards
James: Three Billboards
Chris: The Shape of Water
Ben: Get Out
12:29am
Daniel Kaluuya has had a super-chill morning before the Oscars: “I had a massage, I listened to The Game, I listened to The R.E.D. Album, I had some brunch, and now I’m here.”
12:16am
A double helping of Allisons here — first up is Janney, who’s up for Best Supporting Actress in I, Tonya:
...and Williams, supporting Get Out:
11:53pm
Wakanda forever!
11:46pm
Daniel Kaluuya has hit the red carpet in an incredible caramel-coloured suit, and he’s brought his mum with him. That is how you make an entrance at the Oscars.
11:42pm
Look at Jordan Peele. Look at him!
11:32pm
Lil Rel Howery is on the red carpet with the rest of the Get Out team. TS-motherfucking-A! Jordan Peele’s film won Best Picture at last night’s Independent Spirit awards, so its chances of taking the same prize at the Oscars just became more likely.
11:18pm
The emergency Plummer himself (Christopher) has arrived on the Red Carpet before, and his suit looks like it cost all the money in the world. “I wish every movie was shot that quickly,” he said of his last-minute nine-day reshoots on Ridley Scott’s latest.
11:00pm
The red carpet is a go (so far we’ve spotted Kelly Marie Tran, Jordan Peele, and Tom Holland), but most importantly we’ve delved into our snack pile already. There’s popcorn, chips and guac, and a bag of Munchies on the go right now. The obligatory fruit hasn’t been touched. Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint — the ceremony doesn’t start for two hours yet — so we’re taking tips from Helen O’Hara, who literally ran one yesterday.