"The Descendants," "Moneyball" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy" are among the finalists for the USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors both the screenwriter who adapted a literary work and the original author of that work.
"A Dangerous Method" and "Jane Eyre" round out the nominations for the Scripters, which will be presented on February 18 at USC. The nominees were chosen by a 32-person selection committee made up of filmmakers, critics and academics.
"Jane Eyre" was perhaps the most surprising entry on the list, which left off "Hugo," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "The Help," "War Horse" and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," among others.
Typically, the Scripter nominations match about three of the five Oscar choices for Adapted Screenplay. The winners coincide about half the time.
At the upcoming Scripter ceremony, Paul Haggis will be given the 2012 USC Scripter Literary Achievement Award.
The nominees:
Christopher Hampton for "A Dangerous Method," adapted from the nonfiction book "A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein" by John Kerr and the 2002 stage play "The Talking Cure" by Hampton.
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for "The Descendants," adapted from Kaui Hart Hemmings’ novel (itself an expansion of her first published short story, “The Minor Wars”).
Moira Buffini for "Jane Eyre," adapted from the 1847 book by Charlotte Brontë.
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin for "Moneyball," based on Michael Lewis’ book, "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game."
Screenwriters Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan and author John le Carré for the thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."
