Oscars dates and eligibility for 2022 announced

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made an announcement that the 94th Oscars will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 27, 2022. They were originally scheduled for February 27, but have been moved to the following month.

This still sets them almost a month earlier than the 2021 Oscars, which took place on April 25. This past year’s Oscars’ eligibility window had been extended due to the pandemic and the ceremony shifted to several months later than usual.

The 2022 Oscars will have a shortened eligibility window, with films released between March 1 and December 31, 2021 qualifying. It restores the normal cutoff date to the end of the calendar year, while also accounting for the fact that this past year’s cutoff date was February 28, 2021. (Because of, you guessed it, the pandemic).

While the eligibility window is a few months shy of the usual year, it’s unlikely that there will be a lack of films to nominate. Many contenders originally scheduled to release last year, from “The French Dispatch” to “Dune,” will be released between now and the end of December.

The shortlists (for categories that participate in them) will be announced on December 21, 2021, and the nominations will be announced on February 8, 2022. The Academy has stated that all dates are still subject to change.

While the eligibility window was restored to a more pre-pandemic normal, other allowances for the changes that have occurred because of quarantine are continuing this year. The Board of Governors set the same exceptions for the normally required qualifying run in a theater in New York or Los Angeles.

A film can qualify in one of two ways this year, provided it meets all other eligibility requirements. The first is to premiere on a streaming or VOD service, though originally intended for theatrical release, but also be available on the Academy Screening Room member site within sixty days of its release or broadcast.

The second is to have a seven-day minimum qualifying run at a theater in at least one of six cities with three screenings a day minimum. Those cities are: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta.

Another already announced change to the Oscars for this coming year is that, unlike in recent years when the number of nominees could fluctuate, there will be ten films nominated for Best Picture.

The changes made to last year’s Academy Awards meant that there would have to be alterations to this year’s as well. However, it seems that they are trying to restore normality as much as possible while also accounting for the fact that we are still in a pandemic.

The Oscars will be televised on ABC. Will you be tuning in? What do you think of the date chosen? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.