The Academy Awards Are Officially Postponed Until April 2021

As all movie buffs know, the Academy Awards have taken place in either February or March of each year since the 1980s, but we're all going to have to wait a little longer in 2021 to watch the biggest event in Hollywood go down.

As The New York Times reports, it was announced today that the annual awards show will be postponed until April 2021, a decision that came nearly nine months ahead of schedule. While it's arguably too early to have the foresight to know how coronavirus will affect the entertainment industry next year, it looks like The Academy is playing it safe, while also giving films a chance to be completed and possibly screened in theaters before the big show.

"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," The Academy President David Rubin and the organization’s chief executive 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."

With the change, the eligibility window for the film awards has also shifted. Movies released before Feb. 28, 2021 will now be considered, instead the usual Dec. 31, 2020 cutoff.

While there's no word yet on whether other major awards shows such as the Grammys or Emmys will follow suit or not, we'll be sure to keep you posted. As for Oscars Sunday, it's bound to be as epic as ever, even with a new spring date.