Poll: Moviegoers pick 'Revenant' as Oscar best picture

Audiences are just as impressed as film critics and Oscar pundits with bear attacks and Leonardo DiCaprio eating bison liver.

In a poll of more than 1,000 moviegoers conducted by movie-ticket site Fandango.com for USA TODAY, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s wilderness epic The Revenant was the movie they thought deserved to take home best picture at Sunday's Oscars ceremony (ABC, 7 p.m. ET/4 PT). It ranked No. 1 with 33% of cinephiles who said they had seen all eight nominated pictures, as well as the nominated acting performances.

The two other best picture front-runners,The Big Short (6%) and Spotlight (2%), didn't fare as well as Revenant, placing sixth and eighth respectively. Matt Damon’s box-office hit The Martian was second with 24%, and the acclaimed action film Mad Max: Fury Road came in third with 13%. Bridge of Spies (10%), Room (7%) and Brooklyn (5%) round out the list.

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While The Martian and Mad Max are more crowd-pleasing fare, The Revenant’s noteworthy box-office haul — $165.5 million and counting — and DiCaprio’s performance probably won over moviegoers, says Fandango Oscar expert Dave Karger. “People who wouldn’t necessarily see a film like this are going out to see it in huge numbers and finding it fascinating.”

DiCaprio is considered a favorite to finally win a best actor trophy and was the audience’s pick, too. He garnered 58% of moviegoer votes to Damon’s 23%. Steve Jobs’ Michael Fassbender got 9%, The Danish Girl’s Eddie Redmayne snagged 5% and Trumbo’s Bryan Cranston had 4%.

“One of the main reasons people will tune into the ceremony this year is to see Leonardo win,” Karger says. “Everyone knows he’s going to, everyone believes he deserves it. That’s going to be one of the best moments of the whole night.”

While Room star Brie Larson is considered a lock by pundits for the actress Oscar, she only came in third with 13% of the moviegoer vote. Instead, Joy’s Jennifer Lawrence swept the pack with 53%, with Carol’s Cate Blanchett (15%), Brooklyn’s Saoirse Ronan (11%) and 45 Years’ Charlotte Rampling (7%) all trailing behind.

Moviegoers were voting for starpower, Karger says. “There’s so much affection for Jennifer Lawrence.”

It’s been nearly 40 years since Sylvester Stallone’s first and last Oscar nod, and the Creed star should take supporting actor, according to 30% of the moviegoers. He edges out The Big Short’s Christian Bale (27%) as well as The Revenant’s Tom Hardy (24%). Spotlight’s Mark Ruffalo came in fourth with 14% while recent BAFTA winner Mark Rylance of Bridge of Spies was fifth with 5%.

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“The story of Stallone is one of the most fascinating of the season,” Karger says. The Rocky star “returns with arguably the best film of his career and a fantastic performance.”

For supporting actress, Kate Winslet of Steve Jobs polled first with 34%, following by Spotlight’s Rachel McAdams (24%), Carol’s Rooney Mara (16%), The Hateful Eight’s Jennifer Jason Leigh (15%) and The Danish Girl’s Alicia Vikander (10%).

Winslet has won BAFTA and Golden Globe awards already, plus she’s popular among moviegoers, Karger says. But Vikander is his and other experts’ pick. “Similarly to Lupita Nyong’o, Alicia will be much more of a household name if she ends up winning Sunday, which could very well happen.”