The 2021 Oscars will go on — just not on Feb. 28.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday that the 93rd Academy Awards telecast has been postponed by two months to April 25, 2021. Variety was the first to report in mid-May that the Academy was considering delaying the big night in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“For over a century, movies have played an important role in comforting, inspiring, and entertaining us during the darkest of times. They certainly have this year. Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our Awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone’s control,” Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement. “This coming Oscars and the opening of our new museum will mark an historic moment, gathering movie fans around the world to unite through cinema.”
The Academy also announced that the Governors Awards gala, which takes place in the fall, has been postponed to a later, unspecified date. The December opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures was pushed to April to coincide with the Oscars.
The organization recently extended release date eligibility rules. A feature film must now have a qualifying release date between Jan. 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021. The submission deadline for specialty categories (animated feature film, documentary feature, documentary short subject, international feature film, animated short film and live action short film) is Dec. 1, 2020. The submission deadline for general entry categories, including best picture, original score and original song, is now Jan. 15, 2021.
The format of the Oscar ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, telecast on ABC, has not been determined
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety