The 2021 Oscars have been postponed, but not canceled

And the Oscars go to ... April.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday announced the 2021 Oscars ceremony has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and will now air on April 25, 2021, instead of Feb. 28, 2021. The show, however, hasn't been called off entirely, as some have speculated could happen.

Additionally, while the Oscars typically honor films that come out during one calendar year, the eligibility period for the 93rd Academy Awards has been extended. Now, movies that were released from January 2020 all the way through February 2021 can qualify for the awards.

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"Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalized for something beyond anyone's control," Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said, per Variety.

This is the fourth time in history the Oscars have been postponed, according to The Associated Press, although this end of April date is the latest it has ever taken place since the show started airing on TV, Deadline reports. It seems the aim is still for the show to happen in person rather than for it to be a virtual event, as the announcement specifies it will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter notes.

These are the Academy's latest changes to the Oscars after previously nixing the rule requiring films get a theatrical release to be eligible. For next year's show, films that debuted only on streaming or video on demand can qualify for the awards, as long as they were originally planning to have a theatrical release before the pandemic.

Nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards are now set to be announced on March 15, 2021.