Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris has earned the writer/director his 20th nomination for a Writers Guild Award. The Guild announced the nominees for their 2011 awards late yesterday. In addition to Allen’s milestone, scripter Steve Zaillian picked up two nominations, both in the Adapted Screenplay category, for Moneyball and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Allen was first nominated for an award back in 1966 for the comedy What’s New Pussycat?. Other films he has been nominated for include Bananas, Sleeper, Manhattan, Interiors, The Purple Rose Of Cairo, Bullets Over Broadway and Vicky Christina Barcelona. He has already won the award four times for Annie Hall, Broadway Danny Rose, Hannah And Her Sisters and Crimes And Misdemeanors.
Zaillian is no stranger to Writers Guild Award nominations, having earned four previous nods and winning a statue for Schindler’s List.
The complete list of film nominees is below, but if you are wondering why some well-written films are conspicuous in their absence, keep in mind that only films that are produced under the Guilds signatory Minimum Basic Agreement are eligible to be nominated. This explains why smaller indie fare such as The Artist, Shame, Margin Call and Martha Marcy May Marlene are not among the nominated even though there has been much critical raving over their screenplays. Last year’s big Oscar winner The King’s Speech didn’t qualify for a Writers Guild Award nomination, although that film remains the only Academy Award winner that didn’t at least receive a Writers Gugild nomination.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- 50/50 – Will Reiser
- Bridesmaids – Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
- Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
- Win Win – Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
- Young Adult – Diablo Cody
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- The Descendants – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Steven Zaillian; Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson
- The Help – Tate Taylor; Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett
- Hugo – John Logan; Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
- Moneyball – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; Based on the book by Michael Lewis
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
- Better This World – Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega
- If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek
- Nostalgia for the Light – Patricio Guzmán
- Pina – Wim Wenders
- Position Among the Stars – Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich
- Senna – Manish Pandey
