Oscars Move to April 25th, 2021; Eligibility Window For Movies Extended to February 28th, 2021

UPDATE:

The 93rd Academy Awards have not been canceled, but a delay is happening. This afternoon the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors announced the 2021 Oscars will not be taking place on February 28, 2021. Instead, the ceremony will be telecast on ABC on April 25, 2021, almost two months later. Yikes.

The AMPAS has also changed the eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration,  which has been extended from its original December 31 deadline to February 28, 2021. 

The 2021 Academy Awards will probably be delayed to April 2021, according to a story by The Hollywood Reporter‘s resident Oscar writer Scott Feinberg.

Feinberg’s source suggests that at tomorrow’s Academy board of governors meeting the date of the 2021 Oscar ceremony (currently set for Sunday, 2.28) “may be delayed by as many as eight weeks.” This could mean any date between April 18th, 2021, or April 25th, 2021.

This would also mean “extending the eligibility window beyond Dec. 31, 2020” of films, probably to sometime in mid-March. The Oscars would basically have this weird clash of 2020 and 2021 movies, much like how the Grammys do it with their nominees. Of course, I doubt critics wouldn't follow the Oscar eligibility rules for their own 2020 top tens.

Feinberg: “The governors are not expected to determine the format for the ceremony yet — in-person or virtual — as they feel they still have time to see how the pandemic unfolds before making that call. They did, however, need to put a hold on a new date on the calendar of its broadcasting partner, ABC.