The Writers Guild of America has announced its screenplay nominations, and there is one pleasant curiosity to be found right off the bat: Deadpool, fresh off its Golden Globe nod for Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), received yet another nomination, this time in the WGA’s Adapted Screenplay category, making it the third superhero movie recognized by the guild following Guardians of the Galaxy in 2015 and The Dark Knight in 2009. The merc with a mouth continues to do well on the awards circuit, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the film is on its way to Oscar glory. Neither Guardians norThe Dark Knight managed to nab a screenplay nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; in fact, The Incredibles remains the only superhero movie ever to achieve that honor. (And upcoming sequel aside, that film was an original work that wasn’t based off of a pre-existing franchise.)
Most of the other WGA nominees were more conventional, including Oscar front-runners La La Land and Manchester by the Sea, which makes seeing the irreverent Deadpool on that list all the more refreshing. (Though I confess that if I had to choose a dark horse, I would personally rather have seen Whit Stillman’s wickedly funny Austen adaptation Love and Friendship nominated.) Interestingly, two other heavy hitters, Loving and Moonlight, both appear in the Original Screenplay category for the WGA but are considered adapted works under the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences rules. Loving, about the interracial couple at the heart of the famous 1967 Supreme Court case, was originally developed as a 2011 HBO documentary, while Moonlight is adapted by Barry Jenkins from Tarrel Alvin McCraney’s unproduced play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. While the WGA’s exact criteria for distinction between original and adapted is unclear, the website’s rules do note that the guild “will make the final determination of the proper classification for a screenplay.”
The winners will be announced Feb. 19, with Patton Oswalt hosting. Check out the other major nominees below, and you can find the full list of nominees here.
Original Screenplay
Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan
La La Land, Damien Chazelle
Loving, Jeff Nichols
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight, written by Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell McCraney
Adapted Screenplay
Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer; based on the story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang
Deadpool, written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick; based on the X-Men comic books
Fences, screenplay by August Wilson; based on his play
Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi; based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly
Nocturnal Animals, screenplay by Tom Ford; based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright
Documentary Screenplay
Author: The JT LeRoy Story, Jeff Feuerzeig
Command and Control, telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser
Zero Days, written by Alex Gibney
