The Writers Guild of America has announced its award nominations and the biggest surprise is the inclusion of The White Tiger among the nominees for adapted screenplay.
I nearly watched The White Tiger on Netflix last night because I've heard nothing but good things about Ramin Bahrani's latest film, which I'll do my best to watch before this week's FYC, but it's now clearly positioned as an Oscar contender despite having a very low profile this awards season. Part of that may have been a result of its release date on Jan. 13, when awards races are normally locked in -- but this is hardly a normal awards season.
The White Tiger beat out Charlie Kaufman's rather polarizing adaptation of I'm Thinking of Ending Things (to unfairly name one), joining a lineup that includes One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and News of the World, all of which were widely predicted for WGA nominations. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm rounds out the contenders for adapted screenplay, which isn't exactly a surprise, since the original Borat movie earned an Oscar nomination.
Meanwhile, in the original screenplay category, veteran Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) will compete with a range of rising storytellers including Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), Shaka King (co-writer of Judas and the Black Messiah) and Darius Marder (co-writer of Sound of Metal). The change-of-pace nominee looks like Max Siara and Andy Barbakow's time travel comedy Palm Springs, which stands out among the drama-heavy lineup.
Granted, that's a killer lineup right there, but original screenplays that could be thought of as having been snubbed include Never Rarely Sometimes Always and First Cow, both of which were eligible -- unlike Mank, Soul, Minari, Supernova and Ammonite. Likewise, The Father, Pieces of a Woman and The Personal History of David Copperfield were ineligible in the adapted screenplay category.
With this WGA nomination, The White Tiger has scored some much-needed heat heading into the end of February, when the Oscar eligibility period finally closes two months later than usual. I'm excited to watch the movie, and I imagine Netflix is excited as well about today's news. It would be reductive to compare this film, especially sight unseen, to past Oscar champ Slumdog Millionaire, but keep an eye on The White Tiger this season, as it could very well be a stealth contender.
The full list of WGA Award nominations is below:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros) – Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King, Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas
Palm Springs (Hulu/Neon) – Screenplay by Andy Siara, Story by Andy Siara & Max Barbakow
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) – Written by Emerald Fennell
Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios) – Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder, Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) – Written by Aaron Sorkin
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios) – Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern, Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad, Based on Characters Created by Sacha Baron Cohen
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) – Screenplay by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, based on the play written by August Wilson
News of the World (Universal Pictures) – Screenplay by Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies, based upon the novel by Paulette Jiles
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios) – Screenplay by Kemp Powers, based on the stage play One Night in Miami by Kemp Powers
The White Tiger (Netflix) – Screenplay by Ramin Bahrani, based on the book The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
All In: The Fight for Democracy (Amazon Studios) – Written by Jack Youngelson
The Dissident (Briarcliff Entertainment) – Written by Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel
Herb Alpert Is… (Abramorama) – Written by John Scheinfeld; Abramorama
Red Penguins (Universal Pictures) – Written by Gabe Polsky
Totally Under Control (Neon) – Written by Alex Gibney