The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday that the 2021 Oscars has been postponed by two months due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The award, which was due to hold on February 28, has now been rescheduled for April 25, while the eligibility window was extended beyond December 31, 2020 to the end of February 2021.
“For over a century, movies have played an important role in comforting, inspiring, and entertaining us,” David Rubin, Academy president, and Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO, said in a joint statement.
“They certainly have this year. Our hope is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone’s control.
“This coming Oscars and the opening of our new museum will mark a 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.
This is the fourth time the Oscars have been postponed. They were first delayed in 1938 after massive flooding in Los Angeles. In 1968, they were put on hold after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and again in 1981 following an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
On Friday, the Academy announced it was forming a task force with the Producers Guild of America “to develop and implement new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility by July 31, 2020.”
