“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “One Night in Miami,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” are among the films that have been nominated by the Writers Guild of America in the original and adapted screenplay categories, the WGA West and WGA East announced on Tuesday.
In the Original Screenplay category, “Chicago 7,” “Promising Young Woman” and “Judas and the Black Messiah” were joined by “Palm Springs” and “Sound of Metal.”
“Borat,” “One Night in Miami” and “Ma Rainey” were nominated for Adapted Screenplay along with “News of the World” and “The White Tiger.”
In the documentary category, the nominees included one film that is on the Oscars documentary shortlist, “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” and four that are not: “The Dissident,” “Herb Alpert Is…,” “Red Penguins” and “Totally Under Control.”
To an even greater degree than usual, many of the top Oscar contenders in the category did not qualify for WGA Awards. Films that were ineligible included adapted-screenplay contenders “Nomadland,” “The Father,” “Pieces of a Woman,” “The Life Ahead” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” and original screenplays “Mank,” “Minari,” “Soul” and “Ammonite.”
Those films failed to qualify because WGA rules restrict eligibility to films that were written under the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement or a collective bargaining agreement of one of 11 affiliated international guilds.
Even with the different eligibility requirements, more than two-thirds of WGA nominees have gone on to receive Oscar nominations for screenwriting in the past decade. The same films have won a little less than two-thirds of the time.
The nominees:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Judas and the Black Messiah,” Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King, Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas; Warner Bros.
“Palm Springs,” Screenplay by Andy Siara, Story by Andy Siara & Max Barbakow; Hulu
“Promising Young Woman,” Written by Emerald Fennell; Focus Features
“Sound of Metal,” Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder, Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance; Amazon Studios
“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Written by Aaron Sorkin; Netflix
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” 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; Amazon Studios
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Screenplay by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Based on the Play Written by August Wilson; Netflix
“News of the World,” Screenplay by Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies, Based upon the Novel by Paulette Jiles; Universal Pictures
“One Night in Miami,” Screenplay by Kemp Powers, Based on the Stage Play “One Night in Miami” by Kemp Powers; Amazon Studios
“The White Tiger,” Screenplay by Ramin Bahrani, Based on the Book “The White Tiger” by Aravind Adiga; Netflix
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
“All In: The Fight for Democracy,” Written by Jack Youngelson; Amazon Studios
“The Dissident,” Written by Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel; Briarcliff Entertainment
“Herb Alpert Is…,” Written by John Scheinfeld; Abramorama
“Red Penguins,” Written by Gabe Polsky; Universal Pictures
“Totally Under Control,” Written by Alex Gibney; Neon
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