‘Black Panther,’ ‘Beale Street’ and ‘BlacKkKlansman’ among film nominees for Writers Guild Awards

The Writers Guild of America Awards nominees for screenplay and videogame writing were announced Monday on the heels of Sunday night’s unpredictable Golden Globe awards.

But rather than adding another wrinkle to a scattered season, the WGA largely confirmed expected favorites.

The guild’s original screenplay category includes A24’s “Eighth Grade,” Universal’s “Green Book,” Paramount’s “A Quiet Place,” Netflix’s “Roma” and Annapurna Pictures’ “Vice.” Of these, “Green Book,” “Roma” and “Vice” were also nominated for Golden Globes, in a category that does not distinguish between original and adapted screenplays, with “Green Book” taking home the award.

The WGA’s adapted screenplay category includes Focus Features’ “BlacKkKlansman,” Disney’s “Black Panther,” Fox Searchlight’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Annapurna Pictures’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” (also a Golden Globe nominee) and Warner Bros.’ “A Star Is Born.”

The awards historically have significant overlap with Oscar nominees in the screenplay categories, and last year’s winners — “Get Out” in original screenplay and “Call Me by Your Name” in adapted screenplay — went on to win Oscars as well.

One quirk of the guild nominations is that films can be deemed ineligible if they do not adhere to certain guild rules. The Golden Globe-nominated script for Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite” was the top contender to be left out of consideration this year. Other ineligible screenplays included “The Death of Stalin,” “Sorry to Bother You,” “Leave No Trace,” “Cold War,” “Shoplifters,” “The Rider” and “Incredibles 2.”

Among the eligible films that did not receive nominations are the hits “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” and such critical favorites as “First Reformed” and “Private Life.”

The 2019 Writers Guild Awards are set for Feb. 17 at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom. A list of the WGA Awards’ film nominees are below. Click here for the full list.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Eighth Grade,” written by Bo Burnham; A24

“Green Book,” written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly; Universal Pictures

“A Quiet Place,” screenplay by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and John Krasinski, story by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck; Paramount Pictures

“Roma,” written by Alfonso Cuarón; Netflix

“Vice,” written by Adam McKay; Annapurna Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“BlacKkKlansman,” written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee, based on the book by Ron Stallworth; Focus Features

“Black Panther,” written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, based on the Marvel comic books by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight

“If Beale Street Could Talk,” screenplay by Barry Jenkins, based on the novel by James Baldwin; Annapurna Pictures

“A Star is Born,” screenplay by Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters, based on the 1954 screenplay by Moss Hart and the 1976 screenplay by John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion and Frank Pierson, based on a story by William Wellman and Robert Carson; Warner Bros.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

“Bathtubs Over Broadway,” written by Ozzy Inguanzo and Dava Whisenant; Focus Features

“Fahrenheit 11/9,” written by Michael Moore; Briarcliff Entertainment

“Generation Wealth,” written by Lauren Greenfield; Amazon Studios

“In Search of Greatness,” written by Gabe Polsky; Art of Sport

VIDEOGAME WRITING

“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey,” associate narrative directors Matthew Zagurak, Joel Janisse, James Richard Mittag; narrative director Melissa MacCoubrey; story by Jonathan Dumont, Melissa MacCoubrey, Hugo Giard; scriptwriters Madeleine Hart, Betty Robertson, Jesse Scoble, Diana Sherman, Kelly Bender, Jojo Chia, Ian Fun, Zachary M. Parris, Ken Williamson, Daniel Bingham, Jordan Lemos, Simon Mackenzie, Katelyn MacMullin, Susan Patrick, Alissa Ralph, Stephen Rhodes; team lead writer Sam Gill; AI writers Jonathan Flieger, Kimberly Ann Sparks; Ubisoft Quebec

“Batman: The Enemy Within, Episode 5 — Same Stitch,” lead writer James Windeler; written by Meghan Thornton, Ross Beeley, Lauren Mee; story by Meghan Thornton, Michael Kirkbride; Telltale Games

“God of War,” written by Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog; story and narrative design lead Matt Sophos; story and narrative design Richard Zangrande Gaubert; narrative design Orion Walker, Adam Dolin; Sony Interactive Entertainment

“Marvel’s Spider-Man,” story lead Jon Paquette; writers Benjamin Arfmann, Kelsey Beachum; co-written by Christos Gage; additional story contributions by Dan Slott; Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment

“Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire,” narrative designers Alex Scokel, Eric Fenstermaker, Kate Dollarhyde, Megan Starks, Olivia Veras, Paul Kirsch; additional writing Tony Evans, John Schmautz, Casey Hollingshead, Nitai Poddar; narrative design leads Carrie Patel, Josh Sawyer; Obsidian Entertainment

sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com

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