Logan becomes only the second superhero film ever nominated for a WGA award.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) have announced their nominees for the 2018 WGA ceremony and there are a few surprises among the mix. First, the expected films showed up in force. There has been plenty of goodwill thrown around for Jordan Peele‘s Get Out and Greta Gerwig‘s Lady Bird and the WGA continues the love fest.
The other contenders rounding out the top five were The Shape of Water, The Big Sick, and I, Tonya. All three of those films needed a good showing for different reasons. The Shape of Water needed the push so it could avoid being relegated to a genre film that only had limited appeal. The Big Sick entirely missed with the Golden Globes, so this will help keep it in the conversation. Then there is I, Tonya which is quickly becoming an Oscar dark horse with its high profile actress and subject currently making the rounds with the press. Perhaps the biggest misses in Original Screenplay would be that of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Post, both of which have been in the conversation for a while now.
The other big category is for Adapted Screenplay and the WGA have once again seen fit to nominate a superhero picture among their nominees. Logan got an unexpected nomination from the group, but this doesn’t seem as farfetched as the nomination for Deadpool last year. Logan is considered by many to be among the crown jewels of the genre and could easily be seen as a Western with mutant side-story. While there isn’t much momentum for it to earn big Oscar nominations, there is no denying its stature. The other selections matched what has been assumed for a while now. Call Me By Your Name and The Disaster Artist both got nominations, while Aaron Sorkin continues to get love from guilds for his script for Molly’s Game. Finally, Netflix and Dee Rees got a nomination for Mudbound.
There was also a category for nonfiction film where four titles were nominated: Betting On Zero, Jane, Oklahoma City, and No Stone Unturned. The winners will be announced on February 11th.
Complete List:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Big Sick, Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani; Amazon Studios
Get Out, Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures
I, Tonya, Written by Steven Rogers; Neon
Lady Bird, Written by Greta Gerwig; A24
The Shape of Water, Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro; Fox Searchlight
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Call Me by Your Name, Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the Novel by André Aciman; Sony Pictures Classics
The Disaster Artist, Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; Based on the Book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell; A24
Logan, Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold; Based on Characters from the X-Men Comic Books and Theatrical Motion Pictures; Twentieth Century Fox Film
Molly’s Game, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Molly Bloom; STX Entertainment
Mudbound, Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees; Based on the Novel by Hillary Jordan; Netflix
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Betting on Zero, Written by Theodore Braun; Gunpowder & Sky
Jane, Written by Brett Morgen; National Geographic
No Stone Unturned, Written by Alex Gibney; Abramorama
Oklahoma City, Written by Barak Goodman; American Experience Films