Update: On the 15th of June, the Academy of motion picture Arts and Sciences officially announced that the Oscars will be delayed by two months. Instead of airing in February. 28, 2021, the ceremony will take place on April 25, 2021. In addition, the period of eligibility of the films has been extended to Feb. 28, 2021, and the nominations will be announced on March 15, 2021. The board of governors of the Academy of motion picture Arts and Sciences previously voted in favor of lifting the theatrical requirements for films to qualify for an Oscar. This means that movies no longer need to run in theaters, and streaming films are now eligible.
Original Post: As essentially any other industry in the world in the middle of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the business of entertainment is not going to be back to normal soon. The question of how the coronavirus affect the 2021 Oscar is still very much in the air, with a range of possibilities of how the next few months might play out. It is possible that the 2021 show will be able to go on as normal, but the way in which the movies that get to that night you may have to change a little.
Months worth of movies, whether pushing back your released or lose them completely. Even if the virus continues to movie theaters closed most of the year, it is still possible for the release of movies through video-on-demand, streaming platforms, and so on. But there is a problem when it comes to the Oscars: to be eligible, the films must have a “qualifying theatrical run.”
“To be eligible for award consideration, a film must have a minimum of seven days theatrical run in a Los Angeles County commercial theatre.”
According to the rules of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences (that have not been updated or modified at the time of writing this article), “the rule states that to be eligible for awards consideration, a movie must have a minimum of seven days theatrical run in a Los Angeles County theater business, with at least three sessions a day for the payment of the admission. The motion pictures released in nontheatrical media on or after the first day of their County of Los Angeles theatrical qualifying run remain eligible.”
Any film that does not comply with this requirement is automatically eligible under the current rules. This rule is the reason why, for example, Netflix has bought a physical movie theaters despite the fact that they are a streaming platform: as we move into the production of Oscar-hopefuls as Rome, The Irishand The Marriage Of The Storythey have to have a traditional theatrical run before the release in streaming in order to remain eligible.
So, what does this mean in a world where seasons may not be possible? With stops to continue in the foreseeable future, it is less likely that all the movies directed 2020 release dates — and, therefore, 2021 Oscar eligibility — will be able to simply postponing for after 2020 dates. After all, there are only so many screens of movies to play in it; it is not possible to cram in a year’s worth of movies in six months or less. The major film festivals, including SXSW and Cannes, have already been postponed or cancelled, and it is possible that Telluride and TIFF could follow the example of this Fall. The festivals have a decisive role in the release of Oscar hopefuls, especially short films, documentaries and international films; without them, the industry would have a radically different look this year.
The Academy is currently keeping all options open now. “The Academy is focused on helping our staff, our members, and the industry safely navigate through this world of economic crisis and health,” an Academy spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline. “We are in the process of evaluation of all aspects of this uncertain landscape, and what changes need to be made. We are committed to being agile and with a vision of the future as we will see what is best for the future of the industry and will make further announcements in the coming days.”
The most obvious option would be simply to allow the streaming-only versions in order to be eligible, but that does open up a can of worms. As recently as last year, major figures in the media industry have been complaining about Netflix and other similar platforms to break into the film industry as “real” movies instead of TV movies.
Steven Spielberg made his objections clear in a 2018 interview press Ready Player One. “Of course, if it is a good show, it deserves an Emmy, but not an Oscar . . . I don’t think that movies were just giving token of grades in a couple of cinemas for less than a week, you should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”
In 2019, he spoke in favor of changing the rules of the Academy to require a period of four-week exclusive run in individual theatres in order to be eligible for the academy awards, such as by IndieWire; the proposed change does not pass, but it certainly showed that big names in Hollywood are not happy with the idea of streaming platforms to enter into the movie game (where previously seen as simply digital TV networks). Even allowing for a one-year exception to the pandemic could spark the debate again or open the door for major changes in the film industry in the treatment of the transmission of films.
What would happen in the hypothetical case that only the movies that manage a qualifying lap, you might be eligible? Theoretically, some of the movies scheduled for the end of the year, releases (as in, November/December) you can manage to open if theatres open in time, which means that titles such as West Side Story might be able to do at the time for a traditional round of qualification. Without the traditional Oscar season full of award-bait films, however, films from earlier in the year was going to be considered contenders by default. Films that have not survived to an ordinary award of the season as The Invisible Man, Emma, and Birds of Prey all could find themselves as legitimate contenders, along with little seen, but critically praised films such as First Cow.
Going to the Oscars even happen at all? At this point, it really is too soon to say. The 2021 Oscars are not scheduled until February. 28, 2021, which feels like ages away. But it could be months before businesses open, and even more before that are not essential, full of meetings as the cinemas are able to open and have enough crowds willing to come to sustain them. The delivery of the Oscar, like other award shows like the Golden Globes, you could end up facing a choice: change the rules, to nominate from a much smaller pool, or to postpone indefinitely. This conversation will definitely continue in the coming months, as the situation changes.
