2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions: ADAPTED and ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (December)

In Adapted Screenplay this month, The Two Popes remains atop the list and The Irishman moves up into the #2 spot. Each film earned Best Drama and Best Screenplay nominations from the Golden Globes, a big get for The Two Popes (which is feeling a bit anemic this awards season so far). Jojo Rabbit was nominated for Best Comedy but missing a screenplay nomination there was not a good sign but it bounced back with its SAG Cast nomination just two days later. The question for The Two Popes is though…can it get a Best Picture nomination, which it would surely need in order to win here?

In Original Screenplay, the top three remain the same, and they will this entire race. Parasite, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Marriage Story also all earned Golden Globe Best Screenplay nominations and have also all shared screenplay wins with critics so far. At this point, any of those three could win and could be the clincher for Best Picture as well.

Here are my 2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions in Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay for December 16, 2019.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Green – moves up Red – moves down Blue – new/re-entry

1. The Two Popes (Netflix)
2. The Irishman (Netflix)
3. Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
4. Little Women (Sony/Columbia)
5. Joker (Warner Bros)

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

The Aeronauts (Amazon)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Sony/TriStar)
Hustlers (STX Entertainment)
Richard Jewell (Warner Bros)
Toy Story 4 (Disney/Pixar)

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

Dark Waters (Focus Features)
Downton Abbey (Focus Features)
Just Mercy (Warner Bros)
The King (Netflix)
Luce (Neon)
Motherless Brooklyn (Warner Bros)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Green – moves up Red – moves down Blue – new/re-entry

1. Parasite (Neon)
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Sony/Columbia)
3. Marriage Story (Netflix)
4. The Farewell (A24)
5. Knives Out (Lionsgate)

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

1917 (Universal)
Honey Boy (Amazon)
Pain and Glory (Sony Classics)
Uncut Gems (A24)
Us (Universal)

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

Bombshell (Lionsgate)
Booksmart (Annapurna)
Clemency (Neon)
Dolemite Is My Name (Netflix)
Ford v Ferrari (20th Century Fox)
Harriet (Focus Features)
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)
Queen & Slim (Universal)
The Report (Amazon)
Waves (A24)

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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