There may still be six months to go until one of the biggest nights in the film industry takes place, however, the Academy Awards (a.k.a the Oscars) are making news headlines already this week.
Fresh off the back of the news that the Academy welcomed three Middle Eastern talents as new members (history-making Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki, Algerian-French actress Sofia Boutella and Lebanese-born cinematographer Ziad Doueiri), the Academy’s board of governors has announced that they just approved several major changes for next year’s edition.
The much-needed changes will include the public’s involvement in the voting system.
What does this mean exactly? Well, the Academy will finally be celebrating the films that the public are actually paying for. The change comes after John Bailey, the Academy’s newly-reinstated president, announced the Academy is creating a new category ‘designed around achievement in popular film.’
However, that’s not the only change the Academy announced to the public over the weekend.
Since the 2018 Academy Awards had the lowest-rated telecast on record with only 26.5 million viewers tuning in, they announced that they’ll be moving the awards show to an earlier air date from 2020 (it’ll take place on February 4, 2020, to be exact) and will have a ‘more globally accessible, three-hour telecast.’
The 2019 Academy Awards will take place on February 24. Make sure you watch this space for live coverage, red carpet arrivals and a round-up of the best beauty looks.
Now, find out which actress will be playing Hollywood legend, Hedy Lamarr, in a new TV series.
