The Oscars are Now Delayed until April 25th

The 93rd Academy Awards have a new date. The Oscars have been delayed until April 25th, 20201 and the submission deadline has shifted to Feb. 28, 2021.

The submission deadline was initially set to close on Dec. 31, 2020.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday that the annual ceremony would leave its Feb. 28, 2021, date in favor for the one in late April due to the coronavirus pandemic impacting the movie industry.

This is the fourth time the awards ceremony has been delayed since the ceremony has existed. It was once postponed in 1938 due to flooding in Los Angeles, then again 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and in 1981, after the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.

The ceremony will still be held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and will air live on ABC, the academy said. It is the organization’s intent to return to the normal eligibility guidelines next 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,” said the academy’s president, David Rubin, and its CEO, Dawn Hudson, in a joint statement.

The Television Academy also announced on Monday that the Creative Arts Emmys, a precursor awards ceremony to the Primetime Emmy Awards, would be held virtually this year as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

The Television Academy still has plans on hosting the Primetime Emmys on Sept. 20th.