The 94th Academy Awards, Oscars 2022, have been postponed to exactly a month after its originally planned date, and the awards night is all set to return to its signature venue at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre.
In their official statement, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced postponing the Academy Awards for a second consecutive year as the prestigious award ceremony, which was scheduled to be held on February 27, 2022, has now been moved to March 2022. However, the eligibility period for Oscar Awards consideration will return to the standard deadline of December 31, 2021, revealed the AMPAS.
On May 27, 2021, the official Twitter handle of Academy Awards took to the micro-blogging platform to announce the postponed date of Oscars 2022. While the awards night was originally slated to be held on February 27, it will now take place exactly a month later, on March 27, 2022. Sharing the "Key 94th Oscar Dates", The Academy's Twitter handle wrote, "Mark your calendars!"
For the previous edition, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had made changes to the eligibility by extending it till February 28, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The change in rule enabled films such as Judas and the Black Messiah and The United States vs.
Billie Holiday among others to make an official entry at Oscars 2021. In their official statement, AMPAS also stated, "This year, which is still impacted by the pandemic, eligibility requirements for the 94th Academy Awards will be consistent with the addendums made for the 93rd Awards season." As a result, films that were meant to release on the big screen but eventually ended up with a direct-to-digital release can also be eligible for the awards.
The statement also read, "Awards rules and speciality category submission deadlines will be announced in June. Following this year, the Academy intends to expand the qualifying requirements for the 95th Awards." Furthermore, AMPAS also shared that all the dates of the 94th Academy Awards are "subject to change". However, as of now, it will be televised on ABC on March 27 in "more than 200 territories worldwide". —AFP
