"Barbie" Gets Pushed to Adapted Screenplay

by Cláudio Alves

Shed a tear for Andrew Haigh's Oscar hopes.

What many believed was bound to happen finally did. Despite Warner Bros. campaigning Barbie's script as original, an Academy committee formed by members of the Writers branch - Howard A. Rodman and Dana Stevens took precedence as governors, while Eric Roth recused himself - and  chose to uphold the usual rules for IP-based material. That means Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach will have to compete in Best Adapted Screenplay, shaking up the race in a big way. The pink fantasy was the assumed frontrunner in the other category, facing off against The Holdovers as its biggest competition. Now, it's up against a veritable battalion of Best Picture contenders, including titles wrestling for the honor of nomination leader – Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, and Poor Things…

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How Have International Features Fared in Oscar Screenplay Categories?

By: Christopher James

In a banner year for International cinema, can "The Worst Person in the World" or "Drive My Car" win a Screenplay Oscar?As was discussed in the recent Screenplay Oscar Volley, there is the potential for there to be two international feature winners in Adapted and Original Screenplay this year. Best Picture nominee Drive My Car had an incredibly strong showing on nomination morning, and Adapted Screenplay could be the place where the Oscars chooses to honor writer/director Ryusuke Hamaguchi. If it wins, it will be the first international feature to win Best Adapted Screenplay.

On the Original Screenplay front, Joaquim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World hopes to be a surprise upset. The comedy-drama from Norway may not be in Best Picture, but it has amassed a strong art house following and grown steadily since its opening last month.

Do these movies actually have a shot though? Let’s take a look at the track record for International Feature in the Screenplay categories.

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Highsmith @ 100: "Carol" is a perfect adaptation

by Cláudio Alves

Patricia Highsmith was born 100 years ago this week. The writer died when she was 74, leaving behind a collection of full of classics. Many of those novels were adapted to the big screen, her mellifluous psychological thrillers most of all. Strangers on a Train and the many stories of Tom Ripley being the most popular. It was through cinema that I discovered the author and ended up falling in love with her prose. I adore how she seduces and stabs, hypnotizing us with beautiful words, undercutting the splendor with her character's monstrousness. 

There was a mysterious softness to Highsmith's poisonous style, an insightful breath of romance that reached its apotheosis with The Price of Salt, later retitled Carol. First published in 1952, the novel was one of the first lesbian romances with a happy ending to see the light of day, making it a revolutionary text in many regards. By 2015, Todd Haynes and Phyllis Nagy finally told that story in celluloid, delivering what's arguably the best cinematic adaptation of a Highsmith novel…

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Film Bitch Awards: The Best Screenplays

by Nathaniel R

We just called to tell you you have amazing screenplays.

Movies are much more than their screenplays. There's a reason they call them motion pictures. But no matter what a filmmaker has up their sleeve in terms of visuals or sound, a sturdy platform from which to lift off is crucial. These ten films (and some finalists, too) were already starting at a significant advantage before the first day of shooting due to the calibre of their words, plots, themes, ideas, and structure. Herewith Nathaniel's ballot in both screenplay categories. We don't expect the bulk of these to be Oscar-nominated on Tuesday (let us not weep for Diablo Cody's Tully, for example, because history will be kind to it) but here's hoping that Eighth Grade, The Favourite, First Reformed, BlacKkKlansman, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? (at least) make their respective Oscar shortlists since they appear to have good shots at doing so. 

P.S. in case you missed them, the visual categories are half done, and the sound categories are complete. You can also see an ongoing nomination tally as we announce at the bottom of the sound page.

Blueprints: FYC, Adapted Screenplays

In this week's Blueprints, Jorge Molina looks into five adapted scripts that should be featured n the awards conversation. If you missed the Original Screenplay FYCs, they're here. 

While Original Screenplays tends to be where usually the Academy rewards more unconventional stories, the adapted screenplay category carries with it an air of respectability and prestige. Maybe it’s because it usually involves translation from a literary medium, respected novels or award winning plays. Maybe it’s because adaptations carry a built-in audience, something Hollywood values. Adapted screenplays have the advantage of arriving with an already fully formed and sometimes familiar story. But translating that into a cinematic medium is one of the hardest tasks for a writer: making the verbal into visual, compressing dozens of chapters into a two-hour story, learning what to leave in, what to take out, what to add or change.

Here are five screenplays that each took a previously published piece and turned it into an engaging, engrossing and cinematic experience....

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