The Oscars of Honor, a 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 on Wednesday.
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Actors Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover and Norwegian Liv Ullmann, as well as artist Elaine May, were due to receive the prestigious Golden Statuettes for Lifetime Achievement next month at 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,” says the Academy, which does has not set a new date at this stage.
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.
In the wake of the Academy of Oscars, the Association of American Film Critics announced the postponement of the Critics Choice Awards ceremony, prizes to be awarded in early January.
“We are working hard to find a new date (…) which will allow everyone to welcome to our annual gala in safety,” said the association.
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 had 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 Bobba Fett” or the gala of the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
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 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, however, did not prevent the success of the new Marvel film, “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.