The Academy ponders the postponement of the Oscars

In a world of entertainment radically changed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is seriously considering postponing the Oscar night. The "night of the stars" is still scheduled for February 28, but the many uncertainties related to the trend of the epidemic are leading to second thoughts, Variety exclusively writes, citing multiple sources.

There are still no concrete plans, the sources said, speaking protected from anonymity with the entertainment 'bible', "but the ceremony is likely to be postponed," said one person aware of the internal debate, stating that all details, including possible new dates, have not yet been thoroughly examined and formally proposed. When he announced new temporary rules for Oscar nominations in 2021 in April, Academy President David Rubin told Variety that it was too early to know how the evening would change in light of the epidemic.

"It is impossible to predict what the landscape will be today. We know we want to celebrate the films, but we still don't know in what form." It's not just a matter of safety for the thousands of stars who flock to the Dolby Theater every February for the ceremony broadcast live on ABC, a tens of millions of dollars deal for the Academy. Red carpet aside, the night of the stars could actually go on as planned even in an empty room, albeit at the expense of the effect on an audience that has been getting lower and lower for years. Another problem, and this more of substance, is that, unknown about the progress of the virus apart, only a few films with the Oscar fabric have been released so far, while other productions have ended up in limbo due to the impossibility of shooting in conditions of safety. Postponing the Oscar night would make sense, unless you want to see films like "Birds of Prey" and "Bad Boys for Life" end up head to head with no other competitors in the contest for the best film. Meanwhile, with rare exceptions, cinemas in the US and in most of the rest of the world have closed since mid-March, prompting studios to move their distribution plans online.

The Academy, which until now had been adamant, has loosened the rules for the admissibility of applications, but the trend could be destined to last. Today Variety has always revealed that an amazing 70 percent of US viewers welcome pay-per-view and streaming: better on the sofa at home than in the rooms, at risk of health.