HOLLYWOOD HILLS─ On Monday, June 15, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the 93rd Academy Awards will be postponed until April 25, 2021. Its initial date was February 28, 2021. The format intends to remain at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, telecast on ABC.
Additionally, the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has been pushed from December 2020 to April 2021 and the Governors Awards to an unspecified later date.
Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson stated: “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.”
The release date eligibility rules have been extended. A feature film must be released between the dates of January 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021 to qualify. 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 December 2020. The submission deadline for general entry categories (best picture, original score, and original song) is January 15, 2021.
The British Academy Film Awards also announced that its event will be postponed until April 11, 2021, two weeks before the Oscars.
This is the fourth time the Oscars have been postponed. The first was in 1938, after a flooding in Los Angeles. Then in 1968, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and in 1981, after the assassination attempt on President Reagan.
