The Coronavirus pandemic has forced everyone to reschedule their plans. Even the Academy was forced to do this and have now postponed the 93rd Oscars by eight weeks. The event will now be held on April 25, 2021. Further, even the cut-off date for Oscar eligible films has been extended. It was December 31, 2020 but now has been scheduled to February 28, 2021.
Every theatre, film whether big budget or small has been forced to shut down because of the pandemic. It has resulted in huge losses to the film industry and the Academy’s decision to postpone Oscars comes as a no surprise.
The Academy’s President and CEO, Dawn Hudson released a statement on this. In the statement he said:
“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.”
On the other hand, Theatres are expected to open from July everywhere in the world. Several big budgeted films are going to release from Mid-July as theatres reopen. Films such as Mulan and Tenet are going to be the first films releasing after three months of shutdown.
This is also the fourth time in its history that the Oscars are being postponed.