Dont Tell NetflixDont Tell Netflix

By George Robbins

These past few months have been rough for everyone and that isn’t likely to change any time in the near future. The entertainment industry, specifically the movie industry, is having a hard time right now following the outbreak. Many studios have shifted the release schedules of their movies to reflect the current climate for movie theaters and while it may not be for many releases, some movies released straight to VOD. Even with theaters starting the process of reopening their doors to the public- with limited capacity and new health guidelines in place– they are going to have a rough time ahead of them.

Theaters currently have no public trust due to the fact they are public places with a lot of foot traffic which can cause infection to spread. This is especially relevant now that it seems the virus is hitting as a strong second wave due to businesses reopening their doors. This presents a few different dilemmas which have cropped up only within the past couple of days. Many movies that were set to release later this year such as ‘Godzilla vs. Kong‘ or the new Tom Hanks film ‘BIOS‘ have had their release dates pushed to next year. This has resulted in not many films being released this year at all, creating quite a conundrum for the Academy Awards.

The Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars, are given out every year around February to honor the best movies and the people working on them. Unfortunately, like most award ceremonies, it was unknown whether they would push back the date of the awards because of the virus. It has been officially confirmed at this point that the awards will be pushed back by eight weeks from February to April and with the extension of time comes an extension of eligibility for films. Normally there is a set date that films must be nominated by in order for them to be listed on the award nominations. Now, there will be a bigger window for movies to get on that list going into the beginning of 2021.

This is a good opportunity for movies that want to still make it into the running for the different awards presented, but many films will still not be able to make it in. There are films that were supposed to release some time within the next few months that have now been pushed back to some time next year. Many studios are hoping that by the time their films release, things could possibly go back to normal, but their is no consensus on when this might be. In the meantime, even though the eligibility period has been extended, there still may not be that many movies nominated to receive awards, even if the Academy allows movies that are streamed as well.