Black Panther Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay By Writers Guild

Screen Rant

By Chris Agar

Published Jan 7, 2019

Black Panther scores a nomination in the Best Adapted Screenplay category from the Writers Guild, further solidifying its Oscar hopes.

Black Panther scored a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay by the Writers Guild. For years, awards voters seemed to have a bias against comic book adaptations, frequently relegating them to the technical categories - even if they were deserving elsewhere. Heath Ledger's posthumous Oscar win for The Dark Knight is a famous rare exception, but the tide appears to be turning. One year after Logan was recognized by the Academy in Best Adapted Screenplay, Ryan Coogler's Black Panther has become a bona fide awards season darling and has taken the necessary steps to securing a Best Picture nomination.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster has popped up on Oscar precursor lists as frequently as favorites like A Star is Born and BlacKkKlansman, being nominated for Best Picture by the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards, and Producers Guild of America. Additionally, it earned a nod for the Screen Actors Guild's Best Performance by a Cast award, as well as several other accolades. Now, it has another prestigious honor to add to its résumé.

Related: Golden Globes 2019 Winners

Today, the Writers Guild named their nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. Per the organization's regulations, some awards heavyweights (like The Favourite) were ineligible, but the lists contain several of the usual suspects. Check them out in the space below:

Original Screenplay

Eighth Grade
Green Book
A Quiet Place
Roma
Vice

Adapted Screenplay

BlacKkKlansman
Black Panther
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Star is Born

Tish and Fonny from If Beale Street Could Talk dancing inside

Besides Black Panther (which further solidified its Oscar case), the big winner from the WGA nominees is If Beale Street Could Talk. Barry Jenkins' latest lost a lot of ground in the race following surprising snubs by SAG and PGA, but it still remains a player in Best Adapted Screenplay (though its odds of winning are low). It's also nice to see A Quiet Place continue to get love, however, it's worth wondering if The Favourite would have taken its spot in the Original Screenplay lineup had Yorgos Lanthimos' period piece had been eligible. Still, this marks the third major guild nomination for John Krasinski's horror smash (Best Picture at PGA, Emily Blunt for SAG), so it's very much in play for a Best Picture nod at the Oscars. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

For those looking to gain an edge in their Oscar pools, the Writers Guild may not provide the most help. Of the various industry guilds, WGA seems to be the one with the least amount of overlap when compared to the Academy. There are plenty of instances throughout history of the WGA's selections being snubbed by the Oscars, and the Oscar screenplay winners not even being nominated by WGA. So, the two screenplay categories remain somewhat open for the time being, though certain films feel like safe bets for nominations.