The USC Scripter announced their nominations today. They honor authors of original printed works alongside the screenwriters who have adapted them. They are a group of Academics and writers who somehow have been in lock and step with Oscar in choosing the same winning adapted screenplay for the last 5 years. The Social Network (2011), The Descendants (2011), Argo (2012), 12 Years A Slave (2013) and The Imitation Game (2014).
This year they have expanded their awards - which will be presented February 20 - to include TV adaptations. Their nominees are after the jump...
TV
Game Of Thrones - Screenwriters David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, for the episode Hardhome, adapted from the fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
The Leftovers - Damon Lindelof and Jacqueline Hoyt for the episode Axis Mundi, (Season 2 premiere episode) based on the novel by Tom Perrotta
The Man In The High Castle - Frank Spotnitz for the episode “The New World,” based on the novel by Philip K. Dick
Masters Of Sex - Michelle Ashford, for the episode Full Ten Count, based on the biography by Thomas Maier, Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love
Show Me A Hero - Screenwriters William F. Zorzi and David Simon, based on the nonfiction book by Lisa Belkin
Film
The Big Short - Screenwriters Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, adapted from Michael Lewis’s nonfiction work The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Brooklyn - Novelist Colm Tóibín and screenwriter Nick Hornby
The End Of The Tour - Screenwriter Donald Margulies, adapted from David Lipsky’s memoir “Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace”
The Martian - Novelist Andy Weir and screenwriter Drew Goddard
Room - Emma Donoghue for the novel and screenplay
When you compare this list to the WGA's adapted screenplay list, it looks like The Big Short and The Martian are sitting pretty and will likely be called out next Thursday morning for Oscar nominations. Brooklyn and Room, which were not eligible for WGA, are competing with Carol, Steve Jobs and Trumbo for the other three spots. Trumbo? Really?
And it’s unfathomable that Phyllis Nagy’s brilliant adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's "The Price of Salt" (the novel that was later rereleased as "Carol") is not a mortal lock. She opened up Carol's narrative by creating the titular character almost from scratch, as Carol was mostly a specter in Therese’s head in the book.
Do you think Oscar will throw a curvball or is the eventual winner right here within these five?