The Academy Awards Will Not Be Going Virtual For The 2021 Ceremony

A few months ago, the 72nd Primetime Emmys ceremony went virtual with television's biggest stars and creators checking into the live broadcast virtually from their homes and various locations. But when the 93rd Academy Awards come around in April next year, the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences won't be making the ceremony virtual. A representative from the Academy and hosting network ABC stated: "The Oscars in-person telecast will happen."

Variety has news on the 2021 Oscars ceremony opting out of a virtual ceremony, despite the coronavirus still looming large in the United States and having a huge impact on every facet of Hollywood operations. But the ceremony was pushed back to April 25, 2021, around the time that a vaccine will likely have been made available, so the risk of having an in-person ceremony could be far less worrisome than it would be in the current state.

At the same time, not everyone will be ready to take the risk of packing the 3,400-seat Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, no matter how less dangerous the pandemic might be in the spring. And it sounds like the Academy is anticipating that as an awards publicist told Variety, "The Academy has done a walkthrough of the Dolby recently to see all the multiple options." So maybe we'll see far less people in the theater for the ceremony spread out in a socially distanced manner. But even then, there will undoubtedly be some stars who won't feel safe in such a gathering.

It's still too early to know for sure what safety protocols will be in place for the ceremony, but that's why the Academy is figuring this stuff out now. I'm not sure it's necessary for the ceremony to be in-person, but I'm betting the Academy wants some semblance of normalcy for Hollywood's biggest night after a year that was anything but normal.

As for the other major awards ceremonies leading up to the Oscars, those details are still being worked out too. The Golden Globes, slated for February 28, said the ceremony would air live from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning to host. But it's not clear how that event will unfold since the Hollywood Foreign Press Association did not provide any comment on the ceremony. Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild Awards set for March 14 are still considering "a variety of options" and SAG-AFTRA is "working to create an entertaining and safe show for all of our nominees."

There's still plenty of time for the details for these awards ceremonies to be ironed out, especially for the Academy Awards. We'll be sure to keep you posted as new information becomes available.