The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is gearing up for an emergency meeting this morning and it’s all about Hollywood’s biggest night of 2021.
The 93rd Academy Awards is scheduled for February 28, 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered theaters nationwide since mid-March. This has resulted in several films delaying or shifting their release dates which have limited the number of films that could be eligible for Hollywood’s highest honor. In news coming to us from “The Hollywood Reporter”, the Academy’s 54 governors are likely to delay the ceremony’s date by as many as eight weeks and they will extend the eligibility window beyond December 31, 2020.
Despite this being a highly unusual move for the Academy, this is not the first time this has been considered by the board. To date, the Oscars have been delayed three times before. The first time occurred in 1938 during the Los Angeles flooding and that was followed by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. The third and final time the Oscars saw a delay was after the attempted assassination of Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1981. When it comes to extending the eligibility for qualifying for the awards, this was extended beyond the traditional 12-month period once before, ahead of the 6th Oscars. That ceremony, in March 1934, was preceded by a 17-month eligibility window spanning August 1, 1932, through December 31, 1933.
The Academy has not made the decision when it comes to the format as well. The cards are on the table to host the ceremony as is with an audience or it could be done virtually to maintain safety protocols due to COVID-19. They believe there is still enough time to wait and see how the pandemic unfolds but they will have to put a hold on a new date on the calendar of their broadcasting partner, ABC if a major change like that is to take place.
