Update Monday afternoon: as I predicted, the Oscars will air April 25th 2021. Eligibility deadline is Feb 28th. BAFTA will give out their awards in London on April 11th. Just waitng now for Golden Globes to announce a new date.
Sunday:
Look for the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes to move to April 2021. I’ve been tracking that story for some time.
The Oscars would move to Sunday April 25th. The Globes could precede them by two weeks or four. April 4th is Easter, so that date is no good. And the week before< March 27th, is Passover. The Globes could go on March 20th.
This way, the eligibility for films would move from December 31st to mid February.
The Motion Picture Academy Board will meet and vote on this plan shortly, in conjunction with ABC TV. It makes sense. The coronavirus mess has theaters closed now, and films being pushed through the holidays for release. As the films bunch up, there’s going to be a need for more weeks beyond December 31st. Some films that would have debuted in late fall or early winter are on hold because of stay at home rules. They’re not finished.
The Academy loses nothing by pushing to later dates. The first four months of every year are dismal anyway. But the Academy should also allow the studios more sway in marketing to the voters and press if the rules are going to change. By January-February everyone will be desperate to get out, see films, and meet filmmakers. It’s hoped the Academy won’t make that so difficult.
What’s clear is that 2021 will be wide open to changes, even for the one year.
Meantime, the Academy last week said they’re going back to 10 nominees for Best Picture. But wasn’t that already the case? We went from five to ten a few years ago. Weighted voting made it statistically impossible to have more than 9 choices. The whole thing is pointless, I think. The first 5 are the most important, the others are leftovers. And everyone from the industry to the fans can feel that. Ask yourself right now what the big movies were from this year’s Oscars. Can you recall? “Parasite” won, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “The Irishman” were next. That’s three. Then what? “Marriage Story,” “Ford v. Ferrari,” and then you tell me, at showbiz411@gmail.com. You’ll be hard pressed to come up with five more.
