The 2021 Oscars were originally scheduled to air on February 28, but today (June 15), it was announced that the next Academy Awards ceremony has been postponed until April 25, The Los Angeles Times reports.
According to the Times, the decision was reached in a virtual Zoom meeting between the Academy’s 54-member board of governors earlier today. In addition to news of the Oscars’ postponement, the eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration has been extended. Feature films must now have a release date between January 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021 to be eligible for consideration.
The news comes after multiple film eligibility rules changed for the 2021 ceremony, including the rule that films must screen for at least one week in a Los Angeles-area theater. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced movie theaters to close, films that debuted on streaming services became eligible to be nominated.
Rules regarding Best Original Score also changed, as the previous “predominantly” original music requirement was adjusted to allow scores where “at least 60 percent” of the music was new. The decision was also made to merge the Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing categories into a single Best Sound award.
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