Oscars 2021 ceremony gets a new date, scheduled for April 25

We last told you that the Academy board members were to get together to decide on the official date of the next year’s ceremony. Well they have and the 2021 Oscars has been scheduled for April 25. The dates have been shifted from February 28 to April 25, 2021.

Also, the eligibility period for feature films has been extended to February 28, 2021 from December 31, 2020.

After their meeting commenced, The Academy hinted at the ceremony taking place at “the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood" and "will air live on ABC”. This means that the ceremony will neither be pre-taped and/or be a virtual gathering. 

In their statement, The Academy emphasized, "The intent going forward is to ultimately return to awarding excellence for films released in the January-December calendar year."

There are, however, a slew of changes in the ceremony. 

The Oscar submission deadline for general entry categories including best picture, original score and original song is now January 15, 2021. The submission deadline for specialty categories like best animated feature, documentary feature, international feature, animated short, documentary short and live-action short is now December 1, 2020. Oscar shortlist voting will now run from February 1 through February 5; nomination voting will now run from March 5 through March 10 (nominations will be announced on March 15); and final voting will now run from April 15 through April 20.

The Academy's annual Governors Awards that is usually held in the second week of November will not take place this year. It is usually the place where they present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Also, The Academy's Scientific and Technical Awards presentation, which was scheduled for a June 20, 2020 ceremony in Beverly Hills, has been postponed to a later date still to be determined.

On the extension of the eligibility window, Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement, "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. This coming Oscars and the opening of our new museum will mark an historic moment, gathering movie fans around the world to unite through cinema."