The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday afternoon that it was officially going to push back the next Oscars ceremony.
The ceremony will be moved to April 25 from February 28, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Because of the delay, the eligibility window for films is extending to February 28 instead of December 31. The organization has not yet said whether or not the April 25 show will have the typical red carpet and live audience that viewers have grown to expect.
“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,” David Rubin, the academy’s president, and Dawn Hudson, the organization’s chief executive, said in a joint statement.
They continued, “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.”
The academy has also pushed back its Governors Awards, where lifetime achievement Oscars are given out but not televised, as well as the opening of its museum in Los Angeles.
The museum is now set to open on April 30, 2021.
