Academy Pushes Back Oscar Ceremony Over Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Next year's Oscar ceremony has been pushed back to April 25 amid continuing concerns over the coronavirus.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed the move Monday.

In addition to the postponed ceremony, the eligibility period for the Oscars will be extended to February 28, 2021.

Nominations will be announced in March 2021.

In a statement to Variety, Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said: "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."

It's not the first major Hollywood awards event to be impacted by coronavirus.

The Television Academy also announced Monday the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys will be held
virtually over several nights in September, and Governors Ball events for
both the Emmys and Creative Arts Emmys are canceled this year because of
concerns about COVID-19.

The 72nd Emmy Awards is still set for Sept. 20.