No Oscars-themed birthday party for me then, as the ceremony will now be on the 25th of April. Here's the key dates for those who love (/love to complain about) the Oscars;
The ceremony itself will then take place on April 25th.
Awards eligibility has been pushed back to the 28th February 2021. This could potentially mean films like Everybody's Talking About Jamie could now be up for awards sooner than they'd imagined. Can't say I can really see Peter Rabbit 2 getting best picture, but with the state of the film industry at the minute, I suppose you really should never say never.
The nominations will be announced on the 15th March. No major surprises here, it'll be a month before the ceremony itself and should (hopefully) give enough time for us film fans to catch up on the ones we haven't seen.
Will they cut categories out to ensure a shorter ceremony that more people watch?
The ceremony itself will then take place on April 25th. Whether coronavirus will impact the ceremony, and to what extent it might impact the ceremony - is really up for debate. But I can't say I see it being as busy as normal. There's the possibility to cut down on guest numbers to only those nominated - but how do you choose between some of the biggest names in the industry? Do you only allow one member of production up on stage to collect the Best Picture award, rather than large groups of people as normal? How are people even going to collect awards? Is it even possible to have presenters? Will they cut categories out to ensure a shorter ceremony that more people watch?
There's a lot of questions surrounding just how all this is going to work. And perhaps whilst it is a shame that they made the decision not to move online - most of us are stuck inside anyway, we'd probably have more time to watch it - it's positive that they've finally made a decision. But if we had to chose between nominating Sonic and Peter Rabbit 2... I'd give Domhnall Gleeson all the awards.