Fingers crossed for Irish-made film Wolfwalkers
Although a lot later in the year than usual, the Oscars 2021 will be taking place tonight.
Before the global pandemic set in, this year's Oscars was scheduled to take place on February 28th.
But in June 2020, the ceremony got pushed back and the eligibility date for movies was extended.
This year, the Oscars will be celebrating the movies of 2020, plus some released in the first two months of 2021.
Animated movie 'Wolfwalkers' will represent Ireland tonight.
The film made by Kilkenny's Cartoon Saloon is up for best animated feature.
It's up against Pixar's Soul, which has been very successful with awards this year so far.
History was made in the Best Director category, with two women—Chloé Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman—getting nods.
Academy President David Rubin confirmed on nominations morning that the ceremony will take place at both the Dolby Theatre, which is traditional, and at Los Angeles' Union Station.
The plan is to stage an "intimate, in-person event" which organisers confirmed would be Covid-safe.
"We are treating the event as an active movie set, with specially designed testing cadences to ensure up-to-the-minute results, including an on-site COVID safety team with PCR testing capability.
"There will be specific instructions for those of you traveling in from outside of Los Angeles, and other instructions for those of you who are already based in Los Angeles.
"This will all come directly to you from the Academy to ensure you have a safe, carefree evening."
So, who is hosting the awards show?
No one! The hostless trend began in 2019 when Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting duties amid criticism of his past insensitive tweets.
The 2020 show went without a host and the 2021 show will do the same!
But, stars including Brad Pitt, Zendaya, Harrison Ford and Reese Witherspoon will give out awards.
In Ireland, the show will kick off at 1am GMT, and is expected to run until around 4am on Monday, April 26 – with Sky Cinema airing the ceremony live.
The ceremony will also be available to stream on NOW TV.
