Big commercial hits and a number of awards-season regulars were written in today as the WGA announced its 2020 Writers Guild Awards nominees for outstanding achievement in screenwriting writing during 2019. Check out the full list below.
The Original Screenplay category covers comedy, drama, mystery and more as the scribes behind Universal’s 1917, UA’s Booksmart, Lionsgate’s Knives Out, Netflix’s Marriage Story and Neon’s South Korean pic Parasite will vie for the hardware. The Adapted Screenplay race is among TriStar’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Netflix’s The Irishman, Fox Searchlight’s Jojo Rabbit, Warner Bros’ Joker and Sony’s Little Women.
Because of WGA rules (see below), Original Screenplay Oscar contenders Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — the Quentin Tarantino-penned pic that led all films with three wins at the Golden Globes on Sunday — and Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory aren’t eligible for Writers Guild consideration. Tarantino, who never joined the Writers Guild, won the Golden Globe for his screenplay.
Although Tarantino has won two Original Screenplay Oscars (for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained) as well as a nomination for Inglourious Basterds, none of his nine films has nominated by the WGA.
Read Exclusive Scripts For Many Of The WGA Awards Nominees Here.
The guild notes that feature films eligible for a Writers Guild Award were exhibited theatrically for at least one week in Los Angeles during 2019 and were written under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the select international writers guilds collectively known as affiliate guilds. Theatrical screenplays produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate guild must have been submitted for Writers Guild Awards consideration.
On the documentary side, Citizen K, Foster, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People and The Kingmaker will battle it out for the WGA trophy.
Documentaries eligible for a Writers Guild Award featured an onscreen writing credit and were exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week during 2019. Theatrical documentaries must have been produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate guild to be eligible for awards consideration.
Amid the abbreviated 2020 awards season, WGA winners will be announced Saturday, February 1, at dual ceremonies in the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills and the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.
Here is the full list of nominees:
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 upon 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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