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(CNN) - The biggest movie night is rescheduled for the first time in 40 years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Monday that the 93rd version of the Oscars will no longer take place on February 28 as scheduled.
Instead, the board of governors said the show will take place on April 25, 2021.
“For over a century, movies have played an important role in comforting, inspiring, and entertaining us in the darkest moments. They certainly have this this year. Our hope, by extending the eligibility period and our award date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something that is beyond everyone's control, "they said in a joint statement. Academy President David Rubin and Academy Executive Director Dawn Hudson.
In addition to the delay, the Academy agreed to extend the film eligibility window, which generally corresponds to the calendar year. For the 2021 Oscars, the new window will run until February 28, 2021.
Submission deadlines have also been delayed.
ABC and the producers have not said how the delay or ongoing coronavirus mitigation recommendations would affect the format of the actual transmission.
“We are in unknown territory this year and we will continue to work with our partners at the Academy to ensure that next year's show is a safe and celebratory event that also captures the excitement of the opening of the Academy of Film Museum,” said Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which was due to open on December 14, 2020, will now open on April 30, 2021.
The last time the Oscars were postponed was in 1981, when the ceremony was delayed 24 hours due to an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
The adjustments to the 2021 ceremony come approximately three months after the spread of the coronavirus began to take hold in the United States and the rest of the world, disrupting all facets of life, including the entertainment industry.
LOOK : The Academy changes Oscar rules due to a covid-19 pandemic
Since then, almost every aspect of film and television production has been delayed or had to reinvent itself, from movie premieres to film festivals.
Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube teamed up for a ten-day virtual film festival called We Are One: A Global Film Festival at the end of last month, but the event was far from the typical Oscar contender production issues that define the schedule for awards season.
Meanwhile, as theaters closed across the country, the release schedules were changed, unprecedentedly altering the summer movie season. The result is a calendar packed with year-end releases.
Some highly anticipated summer movies like "Wonder Woman 1984" and "Black Widow" have moved their releases to fall, which is often filled with movies that will be in full competition in the awards season. (Of course, there have been exceptions to this.)
It remains to be seen if movies with new dates will be released as scheduled.
Some films have taken a digital-only approach to their releases in response to the pandemic.
The Academy amended its rules to allow those films to be included.
The measure was described as a one-time concession.
The British Academy Film Awards will also change dates, it was announced later on Monday. BAFTAS are traditionally held two weeks before the Academy Awards and are now scheduled for April 11, 2021.
The oscars
