Hidden Figures (Image: 20th Century Fox)

With the Oscars less than a week away, the movie-loving world is well in the throes of a bout of award season prognostication, with everybody and their brother making their own guesses and picks for what they’ll be most disappointed to see get absolutely destroyed by La La Land this Sunday. (You can read our own speculation and hopes right here.) But what does the average moviegoer want to see take home the big prize this year?


Inspirational tales and rockets, apparently; that’s per a USA Today poll, in which Fandango was commissioned to find out which movie 8,000 moviegoers wanted to see win Best Picture. The answer: Hidden Figures, Theodore Melfi’s biographical tale of three African American women overcoming prejudice, hate, and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory in order to thrive at NASA in the 1960s. Starring Taraji P. Henson, the historical crowd-pleaser just barely edged out La La Land in the poll, 26 percent to 25. Unsurprisingly, that matches the box office performance of the two films, with Figures reigning as the highest grossing Oscar nominee this year, at $144 million. Both films came in well ahead of the competition in the Fandango poll, with Arrival scoring 13 percent, Hacksaw Ridge and Moonlight 10, and Manchester By The Sea, Fences, Hell Or High Water, and Lion all taking 5 percent or less.