(Los Angeles) The Oscar ceremony, held annually in Los Angeles, will have to be postponed due to the threat of the new Omicron variant hanging over California, organizers announced Wednesday.
Actors Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover and Norwegian Liv Ullmann, as well as artist Elaine May, were to receive the prestigious golden statuettes for their entire career next month during the Governors Awards, an event that attracts all the greats Hollywood names.
“We have made the difficult decision to change our plans for hosting the Governors Awards on January 15,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Academy Awards, said in a statement.
“Given the uncertainties around the variants and the impact they could have on our community, we believe this is the best and safest decision for laureates and our guests,” explains the Academy.
No new date has been set for the Governors Awards at this point.
Last year, the ceremony was canceled altogether due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Oscar night itself was able to go as planned in April.
The 2022 edition of the Oscars has not yet been called into question and is still scheduled for March 27.
The first events of the film awards season started this year in the flesh, with screenings, galas and red carpets.
But several have been canceled or postponed in recent days due to the rise in contamination, such as the red carpet for the new Star Wars series, The Book of Boba Fett or the Palm Springs International Film Festival gala.
California had the lowest COVID-19 positivity rate in the United States on Wednesday, 3.3%, and continues “to lead the country in vaccine doses administered,” said the governor of the state, Gavin Newsom.
But California has “seen a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases” in the past seven days, he warned, and recent data suggests that the Omicron variant has become the majority in these new infections.
The resurgence of the coronavirus did not prevent the success of the new Marvel film, however, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which smashed revenue records.
The superhero film grossed $ 260 million in the United States and Canada for its first weekend of operation. Since the start of the pandemic, no film has managed to reach the symbolic mark of 100 million.