Knives Out, Parasite And Little Women Earn 2020 WGA Awards Nods

The Writers Guild of America announced the remaining nominees for their 2020 awards and despite a number of key films being ineligible, the screenplays selected turned out to be more than worthy of the honor.  The WGA Awards’ Original Screenplay category was led by “1917,” “Booksmart,” “Knives Out,” “Marriage Story” and “Parasite.”  The Adapted Screenplay field features “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “The Irishman,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker” and “Little Women.” 

Screenplays that were not eligible because the writers are not members of the WGA included last night’s Golden Globe winner for Best Screenplay, “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” by Quentin Tarantino, “Pain and Glory” by Pedro Almodovar and “The Farewell” by Lulu Wang, among others.  Snubbed works that qualified included “The Two Popes” by Anthony McCarten, “Bombshell” by Charles Randolph as well as James Mangold and his collaborators on “Ford v Ferrari.”

As always, and sadly, animated films do not qualify for the WGA Awards.

The television and news nominees were announced last month.  All of the winners will be revealed at a ceremony on Feb. 1.

The complete list of this year’s film and documentary nominees is as follows:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“1917,” Written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns; Universal Pictures

“Booksmart,” Written by Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins and Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman; United Artists Releasing

“Knives Out,” Written by Rian Johnson; Lionsgate

“Marriage Story,” Written by Noah Baumbach; Netflix

“Parasite,” Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, Story by Bong Joon Ho; Neon

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster, Inspired by the Article “Can You Say…Hero?” by Tom Junod; TriStar Pictures

“The Irishman,” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian, Based upon the Book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt; Netflix

“Jojo Rabbit,” Screenplay by Taika Waititi, Based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens; Fox Searchlight

“Joker,” Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Based on Characters from DC Comics; Warner Bros. Pictures

“Little Women,” Screenplay by Greta Gerwig, Based on the Novel by Louisa May Alcott; Sony Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

“Citizen K,” Written by Alex Gibney; Greenwich Entertainment

“Foster,” Written by Mark Jonathan Harris; HBO Documentary Films

“The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films

“Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People,” Written by Robert Seidman & Oren Rudavsky; First Run Features

“The Kingmaker,” Written by Lauren Greenfield; Showtime Documentary Films