The Writers Guild of America today announced nominations for its annual awards ceremony, and as always there were a number of screenplays that were ineligible (Selma, Birdman, The Theory of Everything, and Mr. Turner to name a few), but there still managed to be a pretty big surprise.  James Gunn and Nicole Perlman landed a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Guardians of the Galaxy, a pick that I imagine few (if any) were predicting.  It’s a welcome bit of color to the usual awards season fare, though I personally would’ve loved to see the excellent Inherent Vice singled out.  Dan Gilroy’s fantastic original screenplay for Nightcrawler also received a nomination, as did usual suspects Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Whiplash.  And Gillian Flynn’s stellar adaptation of her own novel Gone Girl netted a nod as well.

See the full list of WGA Awards nominations after the jump.

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Image via Sony Pictures Classics

It’s tough to draw comparisons between the WGA Awards and the Oscars simply because there are so many big screenplays that are deemed ineligible for WGA consideration (12 Years a Slave last year, for instance).  But still, you can expect to see films like Boyhood, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Whiplash, Wild, and The Imitation Game carry over, and I also see Foxcatcher as a serious possibility for a nomination.

A very curious case has arisen with regards to Whiplash, though.  Damien Chazelle first produced a short film version of the story in an effort to secure financing for the feature film; in other words, he wrote Whiplash the feature film before he wrote Whiplash the short film.  This would qualify as an original screenplay by most people’s standards, and indeed that’s how Sony Pictures Classics has been campaigning the film, but word came down yesterday that the Academy has deemed the Whiplash script an Adapted Screenplay.  That may cause confusion when it comes to nominating ballots (which are currently out to Academy members), but if the film gets an Oscar nod, it offers some serious competition to perceived frontrunners Gone Girl and The Imitation Game.

Anyway, check out the full list of WGA Awards nominations below.  They’ll be held on February 14th.

Original Screenplay

Boyhood – Written by Richard Linklater

Foxcatcher – Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman

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Image via Fox Searchlight

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness

Nightcrawler – Written by Dan Gilroy

Whiplash – Written by Damien Chazelle

Adapted Screenplay

American Sniper – Written by Jason Hall; Based on the book by Chris Kyle and James Defelice

Gone Girl – Screenplay by Gillian Flynn; Based on her novel

Guardians of the Galaxy – Written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman; Based on the comic by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

The Imitation Game – Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book “Alan Turing: The Enigma” by Andrew Hodges

Wild – Screenplay by Nick Hornby; Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed

Documentary Screenplay

Finding Vivian Maier – Written by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz – Written by Brian Knappenberger

Last Days in Vietnam – Written by Mark Bailey & Kevin McAlester

Red Army – Written by Gabe Polsky