In the wake of the raging wildfires in the Southern California region, the nominations announcement of the 97th Academy Awards, originally scheduled for 17 January, has been postponed to 19 January, news agency PTI quoted a Variety report as saying.
According to the report published in Variety, on Wednesday the Academy sent an email from CEO Bill Kramer to members regarding the date changes.
“We want to offer our deepest condolences to those who have been impacted by the devastating fires across Southern California. So many of our members and industry colleagues live and work in the Los Angeles area, and we are thinking of you,” PTI quoted a Variety report where the email’s content were shared.
Apart from rescheduling the nominations announcement of the 97th Academy Awards, the deadline for Oscar nomination voting has been extended by two days till 14 January.
Earlier, the voting for nearly 10,000 Academy members opened on 8 January and was initially set to close on 12 January.
According to the details, for the 2025 Oscars ceremony, Conan O’Brien will be the host, and it will take place on 2 March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles fire:
According to several media houses, on Wednesday night a fast-moving fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills, threatening one of Los Angeles’ most iconic spots as firefighters battled to get under control three other major blazes that killed five people. The fire also put 100,000 people under evacuation orders and ravaged the city from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena.
Hollywood celebrities residing in California like Eugene Levy, Billy Crystal, James Wood, Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton, and Cary Elwes lost their homes to the fire.
Other stars include Adam Brody (Shazam! star) and his wife Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl actor), Anna Faris (Just Friends), and reality TV star couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt.
With fire raging and uncontrollable until now, the premieres of films “Unstoppable,” “Wolf Man,” “Better Man,” and “The Pitt” were cancelled. Also, the Critics Choice Awards, scheduled for January 12 in Santa Monica, has been pushed to 26 January.
