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With the USC Scripter nominations not coming until January 22, the day before Oscar nominations, I don’t have them an adapted screenplay precursor for the first time. But, as with so many of these guild nominations, thoughtfulness in regards to the immediacy of attention about the raging fires in Los Angeles understandably preempted several groups, including the Oscars themselves, from their announcements.
The semi-surprise inclusion of September 5 on the PGA list certainly set some Oscar prognosticators into a flurry as to if they should rearrange their Best Picture predictions and indeed, it’s an eyebrow-raiser. But I’m thinking it will likely find itself here, in Original Screenplay (and/or possibly Film Editing), one of the most contentious categories for the 5th spot, with All We Imagine as Light, Challengers, and Hard Truths all vying.
The Oscars do love sole screenplay nominations and there are a handful of films that could fit that bill. Less so from the adapted side (unless Hit Man surprises), so if it happens it’s going to come from original.
As a quick reminder when looking at which precursors films have gathered this season that the WGA is a strict signatory guild and several frontrunners were not eligible there. See the list here:
Adapted: Conclave, Emilia Pérez, I’m Still Here, Inside Out 2, The Outrun, The Room Next Door, Sing Sing, The Wild Robot.
Original: All We Imagine As Light, The Brutalist, A Different Man, Dìdi, Hard Truths, His Three Daughters, I Saw the TV Glow, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, September 5, The Substance.
Oscar nominations are now set to be announced on January 23, barring any further postponements. Here are my final 2025 Oscar nomination predictions in Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay.
1. Conclave (Focus Features) Peter Straughan (based on “Conclave” by Robert Harris) | BAFTA, CCA, GG |
2. Emilia Pérez (Netflix) Jacques Audiard (based on “Listen” by Boris Razon) | BAFTA, CCA, EFA, GG |
3. Nickel Boys (Amazon MGM/Orion) RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes (based on “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead) | BAFTA, CCA, WGA |
4. Sing Sing (A24) Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield (based on “The Sing Sing Follies” by John H. Richardson and “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code” by Brent Buell) | BAFTA, CCA |
5. A Complete Unknown (Searchlight Pictures) Jay Cocks, James Mangold (based on “Dylan Goes Electric!” by Elijah Wald | BAFTA, WGA |
6. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts (based on the series by Frank Herbert) | CCA, WGA |
7. Wicked Part 1 (Universal Pictures) Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox (based on the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and the book by Winnie Holzman) | CCA, WGA |
8. Hit Man (Netflix) Richard Linklater, Glen Powell (based on “Hit Man” by Skip Hollandsworth) | WGA |
9. I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics) Murilo Hauser, Heitor Lorega (based on “I’m Still Here” by Marcelo Rubens Paiva) | Venice |
10. The Room Next Door (Sony Pictures Classics) Pedro Almodóvar (based on “What Are You Going Through” by Sigrid Nunez) | EFA |
Next up (alphabetical):
1. A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures) Jesse Eisenberg | BAFTA, CCA, GG, Sundance, WGA |
2. Anora (NEON) Sean Baker | BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA |
3. The Brutalist (A24) Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold | BAFTA, CCA, GG |
4. The Substance (MUBI) Coralie Fargeat | BAFTA, Cannes, CCA, GG, EFA |
5. September 5 (Paramount Pictures) Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum | CCA |
6. Hard Truths (Bleecker Street) Mike Leigh | |
7. Challengers (Amazon MGM) Justin Kuritzkes | CCA, WGA |
8. All We Imagine as Light (NEON) Payal Kapadia | |
9. Kneecap (Sony Pictures Classics) Rich Peppiatt, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, JJ Ó Dochartaigh | BAFTA |
10. Civil War (A24) Alex Garland | WGA |
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