It’s hard to believe, but just about a month ago we were still in the the wake of the Oscars. We analyzed the Seth MacFarlane hosted ceremonies, and didn’t waste any time making some early, what-the-hell-why-not predictions for the contenders next year in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. But even with all that, a date hadn’t yet been booked for next year at the Dolby Theater. But now it has been…
Mark your calendar and make the proper arrangements, because the red carpet will be rolled out March 2, 2014. There was some chatter that the festivities might be moved to January, but we didn’t think that would happen, and indeed, studios, PR reps, glad-handers and more will in fact all have a bit more time to tweak, plan and perfect their campaigns. The move to March comes largely because of an insane February schedule that didn’t leave much room, with the Super Bowl slated for February 2nd, and the Winter Olympics from February 7th to 23rd. So lots of event television for all you couch potatoes.
What does this mean for voting? Well, everything will be moved back a week, with final nominations announced on January 16th. But if this is throwing you into disarray, don’t worry: the Academy has already locked down a February 22, 2015 date for the following year. So those constant rumors of an early, compressed awards season? Doesn’t look like that will happen any time soon. [Variety]
