Yahoo Lifestyle Will the Oscars be cancelled this year?
Awards season is officially in full swing. The Golden Globes marked the unofficial starting pistol, which launches the race to the most prestigious award in cinema: an Oscar.
While some years have clear front-runners to sweep the Academy Awards, 2025 could be anyone’s game. Some recent releases look set to be trophy fodder; Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, which follows Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth, is a likely awards-ceremony darling (lead star Adrian Brody already scooped the Best Actor Award at the Golden Globes this year). Meanwhile, Conclave, the Vatican’s answer to Gossip Girl, has also been lauded by critics, and leads the BAFTA nods with 12 nominations. Emilia Pérez has also proven popular, taking home four Golden Globes and in contention for 11 BAFTA nominations.
However, there have been a few surprises this year; The Substance, which originally struggled to find a distributor, was a huge critical and commercial success, landing Demi Moore her first-ever award win at the Golden Globes. Elsewhere Anora, a drama about sex work, love and relationships, has impressed critics, earning seven BAFTA nods.
But there are currently questions on whether the Oscars will be taking place at all. The wildfires that have ripped through Los Angeles have cast a dark shadow over a glittering awards season. Twice now the Academy has delayed announcing the shortlist for nominees, while the Critics Choice Awards postponed its ceremony. Should organisers choose to pull the plug on the Oscars, it would mark the first time in the ceremony’s 97-year history that it has been cancelled.
Here's everything we know so far about the 2025 Academy Awards, and what we can expect from the big night.
When is the 2025 Oscars ceremony?
The event is currently scheduled to take place on Sunday 2 March, but could be delayed due to the ongoing wildfires.
Who will host the 2025 Oscars?
In November last year, popular talk show host Conan O’Brien was confirmed to host the awards show. He has relevant experience under his belt, having twice previously hosted the Emmy Awards as well as the MTV Movie Awards.
“[O'Brien] is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humour, his love of movies, and his live TV expertise,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a joint statement.
“His remarkable ability to connect with audiences will bring viewers together to do what the Oscars do best – honour the spectacular films and filmmakers of this year.”
Previous Oscars hosts include Jimmy Kimmel, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal.
Who has been nominated?
The shortlist of nominees is yet to have been announced, with the Academy twice delaying the news due to the ongoing LA wildfires.
It is now scheduled that the nominees will be revealed on 23 January.
Has the Oscars been cancelled this year?
There is currently no official movement about whether the Academy Awards will be cancelled, but numerous other awards shows or new releases have been paused or delayed in the wake of the fires.
Around 150,000 people have been forced to be evacuated from their homes, with 24 people thought to have died in the ongoing blaze.
The BAFTA tea party, which was scheduled to take place at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, was cancelled due to the fires, with organisers sending their thoughts to everyone impacted.
The Robbie Williams biopic, Better Man, had its LA premiere cancelled. The Duchess of Sussex has also delayed the release of her upcoming Netflix series, and the Critics’ Choice Awards, usually held in January, will now take place in February.
However, the Oscars has proven to be the most resilient of awards ceremonies, standing as a shining beacon of America’s cultural impact on the world at large. Embodying the performers mantra that the ‘show must go on’, the Oscars even continued to take place during the Second World War, although they were far more pared down events without any of its usual razzmatazz or glamour.
In 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill, the Oscars were not cancelled but adapted into a socially distanced format with limited attendance.
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