New York, Europe Brief News – Comic actors Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes will host this year’s Academy Awards ceremony.
The move aims to attract new viewers after record-low ratings in 2021, Hollywood publication Variety reported.
The trio are in final talks to present the proceedings. The hosts will be confirmed officially on Tuesday morning (15 February) on Good Morning America.
Each actor will take responsible for one hour of the three-hour broadcast, airing live on ABC on 27 March.
The film industry’s highest honors, handed out by Academy of Motion Picture Arts, have not had a host since 2018.
Schumer won an Emmy in 2015 for her variety sketch show “Inside Amy Schumer.”
Sykes stars in and created “The Upshaws” and played a recurring role on “Black-ish.”
It has been 35 years since as many as three people hosted Hollywood’s biggest event. It has never have that many women held the emcee position in a single night.
The 94th Oscars will be held in Los Angeles March 27 at the Dolby Theatre. More than 200 territories worldwide will air the show.
The ceremony was originally scheduled for February 27 but was postponed due to the Omicron surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The awards are usually held in late February or early March. In 2020, the Oscars were held in early February, in an unusual attempt to shake up the lengthy, expensive campaigns, akin to political campaigns, that most studios run for the films they hope will win awards.
However, in June 2020, with no end to the pandemic in sight and theaters closed across the country, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took a gamble and postponed the 2021 ceremony, pushing it back two months, from February to April.
