Image Credit: John Bramley
The tricky thing about the Writers Guild Awards is that some of the major contenders for the Oscar aren’t eligible.
So the absence of Django Unchained and Amour in the original screenplay category has more to do with the work not being covered by the guild than an actual snub of the writing. The same goes for the adapted screenplays Les Miserables and Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Still, the work nominated today by the writers union could each still be major Oscar players.
Among the surprises — which will be welcome to many — Rian Johnson’s time-travel saga Looper scored an original screenplay mention, even though the sci-fi genre tends to be overlooked for such awards, and Stephen Chbosky, one of the few authors to both direct and write the screenplay for his own novel, received an adapted screenplay mention for The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Here’s the full list of nominees. The awards will be presented Feb. 17, while the Oscars — which close voting today — will reveal nominations on Jan. 10 and present its awards on Feb. 24.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Flight
Written by John Gatins
Looper
Written by Rian Johnson
The Master
Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom
Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty
Written by Mark Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo
Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman
Life of Pi
Screenplay by David Magee; Based on the novel by Yann Martel
Lincoln
Screenplay by Tony Kushner; Based in part on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Screenplay by Stephen Chbosky; Based on his own novel
Silver Linings Playbook
Screenplay by David O. Russell; Based on the novel by Matthew Quick
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
The Central Park Five
Written by Sarah Burns and David McMahon and Ken Burns
The Invisible War
Written by Kirby Dick
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Written by Alex Gibney
Searching for Sugar Man
Written by Malik Bendejelloul
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists
Written by Brian Knappenberger
West of Memphis
Written by Amy Berg & Billy McMillin
For more on Oscar season
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