The Oscar precursors are in full swing. Yesterday we got a look at the nominations for the Producers Guild Awards—a solid predictor for the Best Picture Oscar category—and today the Writers Guild of America has unveiled its nominations for the 2014 awards. The Best Original Screenplay nominees include Nebraska, Her, and American Hustle, while the Best Adapted category is filled out by the likes of Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, and The Wolf of Wall Street. The major surprise in today’s WGA announcements is the inclusion of Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor script for Best Adapted Screenplay and the befuddling absence of Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis for Original Screenplay.
Hit the jump for more, including the full list of WGA nominations and my analysis with regards to what this means for Oscar. The 2014 WGA Awards will be held on February 1st.
Though most of the WGA nominations played out as expected, the lack of a nod for Inside Llewyn Davis may signal that the film could have a rockier road to Oscar than many predicted. The latest effort from the Coen brothers failed to land a Producers Guild Awards nomination yesterday, and the lack of a WGA nod doesn’t help its case. As I mentioned in my analysis of the PGA lineup, the guilds are most often the best predictor of how the Oscars will play out given that the membership crossover between the Academy and the various guilds is high. There’s no reason to signal the death bells just yet for Inside Llewyn Davis, but it’s not feeling like a sure-thing Best Picture nominee anymore. We’ll see if the film picks up a Directors Guild Award nomination next week. On the flipside, with a SAG, PGA, and now WGA nomination under its belt, Dallas Buyers Club is looking more and more like a genuine threat to land a Best Picture nomination.
As for what these WGA nominations mean for Oscar, the WGA is a less solid gauge for Oscar glory than the other guild awards given that each year, many of the frontrunner screenplays are deemed ineligible for the WGA awards for one reason or another. This year’s exclusions include very likely Oscar nominee 12 Years a Slave as well as Philomena, Short Term 12, and Fruitvale Station. Out of this WGA bunch, the safer bets for Oscar seem to be Before Midnight, American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Nebraska, Her, and Captain Phillips. Read the full list of nominees below.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Hustle, Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell; Columbia Pictures
Blue Jasmine, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics
Dallas Buyers Club, Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack; Focus Features
Her, Written by Spike Jonze; Warner Bros.
Nebraska, Written by Bob Nelson; Paramount Pictures
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
August: Osage County, Screenplay by Tracy Letts; Based on his play; The Weinstein Company
Before Midnight, Written by Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke; Based on characters created by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan; Sony Classics
Captain Phillips, Screenplay by Billy Ray; Based on the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty; Columbia Pictures
Lone Survivor, Written by Peter Berg; Based on the book by Marcus Lutrell with Patrick Robinson; Universal Pictures
The Wolf of Wall Street, Screenplay by Terence Winter; Based on the book by Jordan Belfort; Paramount Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Dirty Wars, Written by Jeremy Scahill & David Riker; Sundance Selects
Herblock – The Black & The White, Written by Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens; The Stevens Company
No Place on Earth, Written by Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin; Magnolia Pictures
Stories We Tell, Written by Sarah Polley; Roadside Attractions
We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks; Written by Alex Gibney; Focus Features