Writers Guild Nominations: ‘Don’t Look Up,’ ‘Licorice Pizza’ and more

The road to the Oscars for Best Picture almost always passes through the screenplay categories, so Thursday’s feature film nominations from the Writers Guild of America could clarify the top contenders for the award. award season.

But the list comes with some caveats. The organization has narrow eligibility requirements, excluding movies not written under a negotiated agreement from the WGA or its sister associations, which is why you won’t see nominations for “Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog,” two films that are widely mentioned as Oscar winners, in the screenplay categories. Other ineligible films include “The Lost Daughter,” “Passing,” “Cyrano,” and international contenders like “A Hero,” “Drive My Car,” and “Parallel Mothers.”

With all that said, what movies have done it? The original screenplay category is filled with previously nominated WGA favorites such as Aaron Sorkin (“Being the Ricardos”), Adam McKay (“Don’t Look Up”), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice”) Pizza”) and Wes Anderson (“The French Dispatch”), with a screenplay by Zach Baylin for “King Richard” finished the race.

In the adapted screenplay category, three big-budget films were recognized: “Dune,” written by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth; “West Side Story” by Tony Kushner; and “Nightmare Alley” by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan. They will be competing with Sian Heder’s script for her films “CODA” and “Tick, Tick… ​​Boom!” by Steven Levenson.

The winners of the WGA Awards will be announced in a ceremony on March 20. Below is the full list of nominations.

Original script

“Being a Ricardian“Aaron Sorkin

“Don’t look up“Adam McKay”

“French Dispatch“Wes Anderson”

“King Richard“Zach Baylin”

“Licorice pizza“Paul Thomas Anderson”

Adapted script

“CODA“Sian Heder”

“Sand dunes“Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth

“Nightmare Alley“Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan”

“Clap, Clap… Boom!“Steven Levenson”

“West story“Tony Kushner”

Documentary film script

“Is Cousteau“Mark Monroe and Pax Wasserman”