Moviegoers Went to See Moonlight, Got Punked

London theater kicked off showing with 20 seconds from 'La La Land' trailer
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 1, 2017 11:47 AM CST
Moviegoers Went to See Moonlight , Got Punked
Ryan Gosling, right, and Emma Stone in a scene from "La La Land."   (Dale Robinette/Lionsgate via AP)

The "biggest blunder in Oscars history" is now three days old, but a London movie theater decided to extend the error's 15 minutes of fame on Monday. People have been flocking to see Moonlight since its best picture win on Sunday—after La La Land was mistakenly announced as the winner—and Monday evening's showing at Rio Cinema was sold out, Mashable reports. The Dalston theater's staff decided to play off the Oscars snafu and play a little joke on Moonlight patrons by turning on the projector and showing the first 20 seconds of … a La La Land trailer.

"We … did a bit of fumbling to make it look like we made a mistake," a theater manager tells Time Out London. The prank wasn't lost on the audience, which started wildly clapping. Oliver Meek, the theater's director, tells Mashable both films are "outstanding" and that the movie mischief wasn't meant to be malicious. "[We] couldn't resist a bit of fun," he says. (The real mix-up was likely helped along by a tweet.)

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