For the second consecutive year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences postponed the Oscars and relaxed eligibility rules allowing films to skip movie theatres will be kept in place due to the pandemic.

The 94th Academy Awards will now take place exactly a year later than originally planned, on March 27, 2022. It is learned that everything is being set to return to their traditional venue at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre.

After this year's Oscars held at a Los Angeles train station, the postponement of the coming year event avoids potentially costly clashes with the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics.

American football's biggest event takes place in Los Angeles next year on February 13, while the global winter sports extravaganza is due to be held in Beijing from February 4-20.

The Academy actually requires a minimum of a seven-day run in Los Angeles theatres for movies to be eligible for Oscars. But, as the big screens were shut due to the pandemic, those rules were relaxed last year, in what was widely seen as a boost for movies on OTT like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

The Academy said, "As this year is still impacted by the pandemic, eligibility for the next Oscars will be consistent with the addendums made for the 93rd Awards season," in a statement.

However, US movie theatres now were largely reopened, but last year's decision to extend the calendar window and still qualify for the Awards will not be repeated. “The eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration will return to the standard December 31 deadline: a feature film must have a qualifying release date between March 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021,” the Academy said in its statement.