February of 2022 is returning to pre-pandemic levels of business. The NFL moved the 2022 Super Bowl to Feb. 13 due to an expanded regular season and the 2022 Olympics in Bejing are (currently) still scheduled for Feb. 4 through 20th. Still, it’s a bit surprising that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to push the 94th Oscars off its original Feb. 27, 2022 date. That was the word this morning as the 2022 Oscars were moved to March 27, 2022.
READ MORE: Best and Worst of the 2021 Academy Awards
In releasing its upcoming awards calendar, the Oscars and its broadcast partner ABC are inherently taking a big risk. By moving the show outside of the crowded February window they are hoping to be able to provide it proper marketing and promotion (a huge fail for 2021) and give the nominated films (scheduled to be announced on Feb. 8) a chance for theatrical life at the box office. Many people forget that one of the Oscar primary purposes in the industry is to push moviegoing and this is a move that theater owners should appreciate (and the Academy owes them big time after botching any “return to moviegoing” messaging at this year’s ceremony).
The Academy also revealed that the Governors Awards will return to a stand-alone ceremony on January 15, 2022. The 2020 date was canceled because of the pandemic. The photo-friendly Oscars luncheon, which is a moment for all the nominees to mingle and celebrate, will also be back on March 7, 2022.
As expected, this year’s eligibility window ends on Dec. 31, 2021. That means the qualifying window is just 10 months, but the timeframe was always going to have to be made up at some point
Here’s a rundown of this year’s Oscar-qualifying and voting schedule for 2022.
General entry categories submission deadline Monday, November 15, 2021
Preliminary voting begins 9 a.m. PT Friday, December 10, 2021
Preliminary voting ends 5 p.m. PT Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Oscar Shortlists Announcement Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Eligibility period ends Friday, December 31, 2021
Governors Awards Saturday, January 15, 2022
Nominations voting begins 9 a.m. PT Thursday, January 27, 2022
Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Oscar Nominations Announcement Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Oscar Nominees Luncheon Monday, March 7, 2022
Finals voting begins 9 a.m. PT Thursday, March 17, 2022
Finals voting ends 5 p.m. PT Tuesday, March 22, 2022
94th Oscars Sunday, March 27, 2022
Additionally, and in a slight surprise, the Academy is keeping its streaming eligibility rule enacted for the 93rd Oscars for this particular awards window. The Academy noted this was because it considers this upcoming season still “affected by the pandemic.” It appears the traditional one-week theatrical qualifying window will return in 2022.
The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022 and return to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
