The wildfires currently raging in Los Angeles, California have caused unprecedented destruction since they first kicked up on January 7, 2025. A little over a week later, the CalFire website says that, to date, 24 people have died, 40,660 acres have burned, and over 12,300 structures have been destroyed. Residents of the city are in both shock and mourning as they face an uncertain future of rebuilding and further calamity — because these fires are still not fully contained, and new fires could start at any moment.
In the midst of all of this, the film industry to which the city has been home for over a century is wearily moving forward. Movies must be made, released and promoted to ensure that this awful start to 2025 isn’t compounded by a significant box office decline. It’s a terrible necessity. But are the Oscars a necessity?
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards next Thursday (they were initially slated to be revealed tomorrow), it will be difficult for anyone to rejoice over a major personal accomplishment while so many colleagues are relying on GoFundMes to give them a minor boost as they start down the long road to rebuilding. Given the unpredictability of these fires, it’s impossible to know where we’ll be one day to the next, so it’s possible, if the situation continues as is or, god forbid, gets worse, that AMPAS will forgo the celeb-hosted announcements and reveal all of the nominees via a press release.
Regardless of what happens, there will be those who say the March 2 Oscars ceremony should be canceled. It’s an option many people have been quietly discussing over the last week, and it’s now been shifted to the frontburner by Stephen King.