2024 Oscars Best Adapted Screenplay nominees: 1 past contender and 5 rookies

Matthew Stewart
·3 min read
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The films in contention for the 2024 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar are “American Fiction,” “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” “Poor Things,” and “The Zone of Interest.” Our odds currently indicate that “American Fiction” (7/2) will win the award, followed in order of likelihood by “Oppenheimer” (18/5), “Barbie” (4/1), “Poor Things” (9/2), and “The Zone of Interest” (9/2).

This marks only the 14th instance in 96 years of all five Best Adapted Screenplay-nominated films also being in the running for Best Picture. Prior to the last time in 2017 – the year “Moonlight” achieved dual victories – this had happened only twice during the 21st century (2011; 2013) and once during the latter half of the 20th (1965). The bulk of cases occurred almost annually from 1934 to 1943, with the only inapplicable year being 1937.

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Respective “The Zone of Interest” and “Oppenheimer” writers Jonathan Glazer and Christopher Nolan are simultaneously nominated for Best Director, while Nolan is also set to face off against “American Fiction” scripter Cord Jefferson in the Best Picture race. Jefferson is the 13th Black writer ever nominated in the adapted category and could become its seventh such winner, directly following “BlacKkKlansman” (2019) duo Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott. He further emulates Lee as only the second Black creative to receive concurrent nominations for adapted writing and producing.

The sole category veteran in this bunch is Greta Gerwig, who shares her nomination for “Barbie” with her husband, Noah Baumbach. She was previously recognized here for her “Little Women” (2020) script but lost in that case to Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”). As the only woman in this lineup, it falls on her to continue this category’s recent female winner trend, which was established by respective 2022 and 2023 victors Sian Heder (“CODA”) and Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”).

Gerwig would be the 10th woman to win an Oscar for adaptive writing. Those who preceded Heder were Sarah Y. Mason (“Little Women,” 1934), Claudine West (“Mrs. Miniver,” 1943), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (“A Room with a View,” 1987; “Howards End,” 1993), Emma Thompson (“Sense and Sensibility,” 1996), Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”), and Diana Ossana (“Brokeback Mountain,” 2006).

Rounding out this roster of six writers is Tony McNamara (“Poor Things”), who was previously nominated for penning the original screenplay for “The Favourite” (2019). Indeed, he is one of four current adapted screenplay nominees with at least one past bid in the opposite writing category, the others of whom are Nolan (“Memento,” 2002; “Inception,” 2011), Gerwig (“Lady Bird,” 2018), and Baumbach (“Marriage Story,” 2020).

The films that won in this category most recently are “Women Talking,” “CODA,” “The Father” (2021), and “Jojo Rabbit.” This year’s winner will be revealed during the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, airing March 10 on ABC.

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

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