LOS ANGELES, Feb 18 — La La Land is a lock to sweep the Oscars next week, but the race to be crowned Hollywood's leading man is going down to the wire, say bookmakers who are seeing record bets on the Academy Awards this year.

Ladbrokes favours Affleck with 8/15 odds, compared to 13/8 for a Washington victory but said it's getting down to the wire.

Bookmakers, however, are overwhelmDirector Damien Chazelle (left) and actress Emma Stone (right) attend the photocall for the movie ‘La La Land’ at the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, August 31, 2016. — Reuters pic
Director Damien Chazelle (left) and actress Emma Stone (right) attend the photocall for the movie ‘La La Land’ at the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, August 31, 2016. — Reuters pic

ingly confident that musical La La Land will take home the best picture gong. Punters are finding several ways to put their money behind La La Land.

Ladbrokes has the film 3/1 to equal the record for most wins - currently 11 held by Titanic, Ben-Hur and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The odds for La La Land to beat the record for most wins is 10/1. — Reuters