(Photo: Mike Segar/REUTERS)

Next year’s Oscars have been delayed until April 25, 2021, pushing the 93rd ceremony back by two months.

Initially planned for February 28, this delay seems appropriate since COVID-19 has had such a huge effect on cinema releases, in recent months.

The Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said today:

“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.”

Films will now be eligible until February 28, 2021 and nominees will be announced March 15, 2021.

In addition, The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its doors on April 30, 2021, instead of December 14, 2020.

Did you know?

The Oscars have only been delayed three times before in its 93-year history!

It was first delayed in 1938 due to flooding in LA, and again in 1968, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The ceremony was last postponed in 1981 after the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. So, this move marks the fourth time the Oscars has ever been rescheduled.

The Academy Awards hasn’t taken place in April, since 1988!