Here's How The 2021 Golden Globes Will Be Different From Past Shows
When the Academy moved the 2021 Oscars to April 25, it was a historic decision. It also pretty much guaranteed the rest of the awards season calendar would move. The BAFTAs were next out of the gate, shuffling down to April 11, two weeks before the Oscars. Now, the Golden Globes ceremony has shifted to match. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has announced the 2021 Golden Globes will be in February, putting the event in its usual position eight weeks before the Oscars to kick off awards season... just two months later than usual.
Over the last few decades, awards season has struggled with a growing problem of studios pouring money into costly campaigns (for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and similar awards) that drag on for months. In 2004, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) moved the Oscars ceremony from the end of March to the end of February, and many had hoped the change would curb this behavior. In 2019, AMPAS moved the date again, to early February, as awards campaigns once again began to get out of control.
Moving the Oscars date back to April 25 in light of the coronavirus pandemic shutting down theaters and disrupting large gatherings makes sense from a health and safety standpoint. But, if the Golden Globes had remained a January event, it could create the longest awards season campaign in history.
Thankfully, the HFPA has decided to follow AMPAS' example and is keeping awards season to an eight-week affair. On the same date that AMPAS will close Academy Award eligibility (Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021), the Globes will hold its own ceremony that evening.
The good news for Globes viewers is fan-favorites Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are still on as hosts for the 2021 ceremony at its new date. The event will air on NBC as planned, though no one knows what form it will take. (The pandemic is still too much of an unknown to determine how many celebs can be in attendance or whether there will be a red carpet.)
As for Globes eligibility, the HFPA has already followed AMPAS' lead in waiving the mandatory "independent theatrical screening" requirement for movies, though it is unclear if streaming-only releases will be allowed to compete. Moreover, it hasn't been determined what the cut-off date is for films to be considered, or how TV show eligibility will be handled. The Golden Globes' website indicates the HFPA "will provide further guidance around eligibility, voting period, and revised nominations announcement timing in the coming weeks."
The 2021 Golden Globes will take place on Feb. 28, 2021, airing live in some format at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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