‘1917,’ ‘Little Women’ and ‘Booksmart’ among the film nominees for the Writers Guild Awards
Hot on the heels of Sunday night’s Golden Globes, the Writers Guild of America Awards nominations were announced Monday morning, offering a fresh set of data points in what has been a fairly wide open awards season.
The guild’s original screenplay nominees include Universal’s World War I thriller “1917,†Annapurna’s teen comedy “Booksmart,†Lionsgate’s whodunit “Knives Out,†Netflix’s divorce drama “Marriage Story†and Neon’s genre-scrambling class satire “Parasite.â€
In the adapted screenplay category, the nominees are Sony’s Mister Rogers heartstring-tugger “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,†Netflix’s gangster epic “The Irishman,†Fox Searchlight’s Nazi coming-of-age satire “Jojo Rabbit,†Warner Bros.’ comic-book hit “Joker†and Sony’s literary adaptation “Little Women.â€
With Oscar nomination voting closing Tuesday, the guild’s picks are unlikely to have much effect on potential Academy Award nods. But in a compressed Oscar season that has thus far been short on clarity, they will nevertheless be picked over by prognosticators for clues as to which way the winds may be blowing.
Among the guild’s selections, “Marriage Story,†“Parasite†and “The Irishman†were also nominated for Golden Globes in a category that does not distinguish between original and adapted screenplays.
The film that earned Quentin Tarantino the screenplay prize at the Globes on Sunday night, Sony’s 1960s fantasia “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood,†was deemed ineligible for consideration under WGA rules that require submitted films to have been written under the guild’s collective bargaining agreement. Two other films considered strong Oscar contenders, A24’s “The Farewell†and Sony Classics’ “Pain and Glory,†were also ineligible.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s “The Two Popes,†which received a Globes nomination, was submitted to the WGA as an adapted screenplay, but the guild ruled it should be considered in the original screenplay category, where it failed to land a nomination. Other potential nominees that also missed out include “Hustlers†and “Ford v. Ferrari†in the original screenplay category and “Richard Jewell†in the adapted screenplay category.
Among the guild’s nominees in the documentary category — including Alex Gibney’s “Citizen K†and Lauren Greenfield’s “The Kingmakerâ€â€” none made the cut for the Oscars documentary feature shortlist.
The WGA Awards will be handed out Feb. 1 in concurrent ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles. The full list of nominees is below:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“1917,†written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns; Universal Pictures
“Booksmart,†written by Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins and Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman; United Artists Releasing
“Knives Out,†written by Rian Johnson; Lionsgate
“Marriage Story,†written by Noah Baumbach; Netflix
“Parasite,†screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, story by Bong Joon Ho; Neon
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,†written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster, inspired by the article “Can You Say … Hero?†by Tom Junod; TriStar Pictures
“The Irishman,†screenplay by Steven Zaillian, based on the book “I Heard You Paint Houses†by Charles Brandt; Netflix
“Jojo Rabbit,†screenplay by Taika Waititi, based on the book “Caging Skies†by Christine Leunens; Fox Searchlight
“Joker,†written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, based on characters from DC Comics; Warner Bros. Pictures
“Little Women,†screenplay by Greta Gerwig, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott; Sony Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
“Citizen K,†written by Alex Gibney; Greenwich Entertainment
“Foster,†written by Mark Jonathan Harris; HBO Documentary Films
“The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,†written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films
“Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People,†written by Robert Seidman & Oren Rudavsky; First Run Features
“The Kingmaker,†written by Lauren Greenfield; Showtime Documentary Films
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