Christopher Polk/Getty ImagesUPDATE: Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Golden Globes, which typically air in January, will now take place on Feb. 28, 2021. This news comes days after it was announced that the Oscars have been postponed to April 25, 2021, after originally being set for February.
"We are excited to announce the 78th annual Golden Globe® Awards will take place on Sunday, February 28, 2021," the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced on Monday. "The ceremony will air live coast to coast 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET on NBC from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California."
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Grab your calendar because the 2021 Oscars just got a brand new date.
As has been typically the case in recent decades, the next Academy Awards were scheduled for early 2021—February 28, to be exact. However, as the coronavirus pandemic has continued through the first half of this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday that the next ceremony has been rescheduled to April 25, 2021, the latest date the Academy Awards have ever been held since it was televised. The last time the Oscars took place in April was 32 years ago in 1988.
In addition to the actual ceremony date, the Academy has also pushed back several other related elements, including the eligibility period. Now, any feature films that have been released between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28, 2021 are eligible for Academy Awards consideration. The submission deadline for specialty categories, such as Animated Feature Film and Documentary Feature, is Dec. 1, while the submission deadline for general entry categories, like Best Picture and Original Song, is Jan. 15, 2021.
Nominations for the 2021 Oscars will then be announced on March 15, 2021. And, just days after the ceremony takes place inside the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and airs on ABC, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open on April 30, 2021 instead of the previously scheduled Dec. 14 date.
The move comes months after the pandemic brought production on upcoming projects around the world to a screeching halt and shuttered movie theaters around the country.
"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," Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement. "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."
Along with the Academy's announcement, it was also confirmed on Monday that BAFTA has rescheduled its British Academy Film Awards from Feb. 14 to April 11, 2021, Variety reported.
BAFTA told Variety in a statement. "This change from the previously announced date of Feb. 14 acknowledges the impact of the global pandemic and accommodates an extended eligibility period. Further details on the ceremony will be announced later in the year."