Category of film award
The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, musicals, short stories, TV series, and other films and film characters. All sequels are also considered adaptations by this standard, being based on the story and characters of the original film.
Prior to its current name, the award was known as the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium.[ 1] [ 2] The Best Adapted Screenplay category has been a part of the Academy Awards since their inception.
The first person to win twice in this category was Joseph L. Mankiewicz , who won the award in two consecutive years, 1949 and 1950. Others to win twice in this category include George Seaton , Robert Bolt (who also won in consecutive years), Francis Ford Coppola , Mario Puzo , Alvin Sargent , Ruth Prawer Jhabvala , Michael Wilson , Alexander Payne and Christopher Hampton . Payne won both awards as part of a writing team, with Jim Taylor for Sideways and Jim Rash and Nat Faxon for The Descendants . Michael Wilson was blacklisted at the time of his second Oscar, so the award was given to a front (novelist Pierre Boulle ). However, the Academy officially recognized him as the winner several years later.[ 3]
Billy Wilder , Charles Brackett , Paddy Chayefsky , Francis Ford Coppola , Horton Foote , William Goldman , Robert Benton , Bo Goldman , Waldo Salt , and the Coen brothers have won Oscars for both original and adapted screenplays.
Frances Marion (The Big House ) was the first woman to win in any screenplay category, although she won for her original script for Best Writing, which then included both original and adapted screenplays before a separate award for Best Original Screenplay was introduced. Sarah Y. Mason (Little Women ) was the first woman to win for adaptation from previously established material; she shared the award with her husband, Victor Heerman . They are also the first of two married couples to win in this category; Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ) are the others.
Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney (The Story of Louis Pasteur ) were the first to win for adapting their own work.
Philip G. Epstein and Julius J. Epstein (Casablanca ) are the first siblings to win in this category. James Goldman (The Lion in Winter ) and William Goldman (All the President's Men ) are the first siblings to win for separate films. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men ) are the third winning siblings.
Mario Puzo is the one of two writers whose work has been adapted and resulted in two wins. Puzo's novel The Godfather resulted in wins in 1972 and 1974 for himself and Francis Ford Coppola . The other is E. M. Forster , whose novels A Room with a View and Howards End resulted in wins for Ruth Prawer Jhabvala .
Larry McMurtry is the only person who has won for adapting someone else's work (Brokeback Mountain ), and whose own work has been adapted by someone else, resulting in a win (Terms of Endearment ) .
William Monahan (The Departed ) and Sian Heder (CODA ) are the only people who have won this award by using another full-length feature film as the credited source of the adaptation.
Geoffrey S. Fletcher (Precious ), John Ridley (12 Years a Slave ) and Cord Jefferson (American Fiction ) are the only African-Americans to win solo in this category; Fletcher is also the first African-American to win in any writing category. Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight ) are the first African-American writing duo to win; Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott (BlacKkKlansman ) are the second, although their co-writers, David Rabinowitz and Charlie Wachtel, are both white.
James Ivory (Call Me by Your Name ) is the oldest person to receive the award at age 89. Charlie Wachtel (BlacKkKlansman ) is the youngest at age 32.
Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit ) is the first person of Māori descent to receive the award.
Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility ) is the only winner who has also won for acting.[ 4] Winners Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade ) and John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ) have been nominated for acting but not won.
Charles Schnee (The Bad and the Beautiful ) , Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade ), and Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters ) are the only winners whose respective films were not nominated for Best Picture .
Noted novelists and playwrights nominated in this category include: George Bernard Shaw (who shared an award for an adaptation of his play Pygmalion ), Graham Greene , Tennessee Williams , Vladimir Nabokov , James Hilton , Dashiell Hammett , Raymond Chandler , Lillian Hellman , Irwin Shaw , James Agee , Norman Corwin , S. J. Perelman , Terence Rattigan , John Osborne , Robert Bolt , Harold Pinter , David Mamet , Larry McMurtry , Arthur Miller , John Irving , David Hare , Tony Kushner , August Wilson , Florian Zeller and Kazuo Ishiguro .
Ted Elliott , Roger S. H. Schulman , Joe Stillman & Terry Rossio , writers of Shrek and Michael Arndt , John Lasseter , Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich , writers of Toy Story 3 , are as of 2020, the only writers to be nominated for an animated film.[ 5] [ 6]
Scott Frank , James Mangold and Michael Green , writers of Logan , are the first writers to be nominated for a film based on superhero comic books (the X-Men ).[ 7] [ 8]
Winners and nominees [ edit ] Winners are listed first in colored row, followed by the other nominees.
Year Film Nominees Source Material 1929 /30 (3rd) [ note 3] The Big House Frances Marion – (original) All Quiet on the Western Front Screenplay: George Abbott ; Adaptation: Maxwell Anderson & Del Andrews ; Dialogue: Anderson The novel by Erich Maria Remarque Disraeli Julien Josephson The play by Louis N. Parker The Divorcee John Meehan The novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott Street of Chance Howard Estabrook A story by Oliver H.P. Garrett 1930 /31 (4th) [ note 1] Cimarron Howard Estabrook The novel by Edna Ferber The Criminal Code Seton I. Miller & Fred Niblo Jr. The play by Martin Flavin Holiday Horace Jackson The play by Philip Barry Little Caesar Screenplay: Francis Edward Faragoh ; Continuity: Robert N. Lee The novel by W. R. Burnett Skippy Joseph L. Mankiewicz & Sam Mintz The comic strip by Percy Crosby 1931 /32 (5th) [ note 1] Bad Girl Edwin J. Burke The novel by Viña Delmar and play by Delmar and Brian Marlowe Arrowsmith Sidney Howard The novel by Sinclair Lewis Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Percy Heath & Samuel Hoffenstein The novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 1932 /33 (6th) [ note 1] [ note 4] Little Women Victor Heerman & Sarah Y. Mason The novel by Louisa May Alcott Lady for a Day Robert Riskin The short story "Madame La Gimp" by Damon Runyon State Fair Paul Green & Sonya Levien The novel by Phil Stong 1934 (7th) [ note 1] [ note 5] It Happened One Night Robert Riskin The short story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams The Thin Man Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett The novel by Dashiell Hammett Viva Villa! Ben Hecht The book Viva Villa! A Recovery of the Real Pancho Villa, Peon, Bandit, Soldier, Patriot by Edgecumb Pinchon & O. B. Stade 1935 (8th) [ note 6] [ note 7] [ note 8] The Informer Dudley Nichols [ note 9] [ 9] The novel by Liam O'Flaherty The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Screenplay: Achmed Abdullah , John L. Balderston & Waldemar Young ; Adaptation: Grover Jones & William Slavens McNutt The memoir by Francis Yeats-Brown Mutiny on the Bounty Jules Furthman , Talbot Jennings & Carey Wilson The novel by James Norman Hall & Charles Nordhoff 1936 (9th) The Story of Louis Pasteur Pierre Collings & Sheridan Gibney (original) After the Thin Man Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett The novel The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett Dodsworth Sidney Howard The play by Howard & novel by Sinclair Lewis Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Robert Riskin The short story "Opera Hat" by Bud Kelland My Man Godfrey Eric S. Hatch & Morrie Ryskind The novel 1101 Park Avenue by Hatch 1937 (10th) The Life of Emile Zola Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg & Norman Reilly Raine The book Zola and His Time by Matthew Josephson The Awful Truth Viña Delmar The play by Arthur Richman Captains Courageous Marc Connelly , Dale Van Every & John Lee Mahin The novel Captain Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks by Rudyard Kipling Stage Door Morrie Ryskind & Anthony Veiller The play by Edna Ferber & George S. Kaufman A Star Is Born Alan Campbell , Robert Carson & Dorothy Parker A story by William A. Wellman & Carson 1938 (11th) Pygmalion Screenplay & Dialogue: George Bernard Shaw ; Adaptation: Ian Dalrymple , Cecil Arthur Lewis & W. P. Lipscomb The play by Shaw Boys Town John Meehan & Dore Schary A story by Schary & Eleanore Griffin The Citadel Dalrymple, Betty Hill & Spig Wead The novel by A. J. Cronin Four Daughters Lenore Coffee & Julius J. Epstein The short story "Sister Act" by Fannie Hurst You Can't Take It with You Robert Riskin The play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart 1939 (12th) Gone with the Wind Sidney Howard (p.r. ) The novel by Margaret Mitchell Goodbye, Mr. Chips Holt Marvell , R. C. Sherriff & Claudine West The novella by James Hilton Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Sidney Buchman A story by Lewis R. Foster Ninotchka Charles Brackett , Walter Reisch & Billy Wilder A story by Melchior Lengyel Wuthering Heights Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur The novel by Emily Brontë
Year Film Nominees Source Material 1940 (13th) The Philadelphia Story Donald Ogden Stewart The play by Philip Barry The Grapes of Wrath Nunnally Johnson The novel by John Steinbeck Kitty Foyle Dalton Trumbo The novel by Christopher Morley The Long Voyage Home Dudley Nichols The plays The Moon of the Caribees , In the Zone , Bound East for Cardiff & The Long Voyage Home by Eugene O'Neill Rebecca Joan Harrison & Robert E. Sherwood The novel by Daphne du Maurier 1941 (14th) Here Comes Mr. Jordan Sidney Buchman & Seton I. Miller The play Heaven Can Wait by Harry Segall Hold Back the Dawn Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder The novel by Ketti Frings How Green Was My Valley Philip Dunne The novel by Richard Llewellyn The Little Foxes Lillian Hellman The play by Hellman The Maltese Falcon John Huston The novel by Dashiell Hammett 1942 (15th) Mrs. Miniver George Froeschel , James Hilton , Claudine West & Arthur Wimperis The character Mrs. Miniver from the articles by Jan Struther 49th Parallel Rodney Ackland & Emeric Pressburger A story by Pressburger The Pride of the Yankees Herman J. Mankiewicz & Jo Swerling A story by Paul Gallico Random Harvest Froeschel, West & Wimperis The novel by Hilton The Talk of the Town Sidney Buchman & Irwin Shaw A story by Sidney Harmon 1943 (16th) Casablanca Philip G. Epstein , Julius J. Epstein & Howard Koch The play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Joan Alison & Murray Burnett Holy Matrimony Nunnally Johnson The novel Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett The More the Merrier Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster , Frank Ross & Robert W. Russell A story by Ross & Russell The Song of Bernadette George Seaton The novel by Franz Werfel Watch on the Rhine Dashiell Hammett The play by Lillian Hellman 1944 (17th) Going My Way Frank Butler & Frank Cavett A story by Leo McCarey Double Indemnity Raymond Chandler & Billy Wilder The novel Double Indemnity in Three of a Kind by James M. Cain Gaslight John L. Balderston , Walter Reisch & John Van Druten The play Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton Laura Jay Dratler , Samuel Hoffenstein & Elizabeth Reinhardt The novel by Vera Caspary Meet Me in St. Louis Irving Brecher & Fred F. Finklehoffe The novel by Sally Benson 1945 (18th) [ 10] The Lost Weekend Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder The novel by Charles R. Jackson G. I. Joe Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore & Philip Stevenson The memoirs Brave Men & Here Is Your War by Ernie Pyle Mildred Pierce Ranald MacDougall The novel by James M. Cain Pride of the Marines Albert Maltz The book Al Schmid, Marine by Roger Butterfield A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Frank Davis & Tess Slesinger (p.n. ) The novel by Betty Smith 1946 (19th) The Best Years of Our Lives Robert E. Sherwood The novella Glory for Me by MacKinlay Kantor Anna and the King of Siam Sally Benson & Talbot Jennings The novel by Margaret Landon Brief Encounter Anthony Havelock-Allan , David Lean & Ronald Neame The play Still Life by Noël Coward The Killers Anthony Veiller The short story by Ernest Hemingway Rome, Open City Sergio Amidei & Federico Fellini A story by Amidei & Alberto Consiglio 1947 (20th) Miracle on 34th Street George Seaton A story by Valentine Davies Boomerang Richard Murphy The article "The Perfect Case" by Anthony Abbot Crossfire John Paxton The novel The Brick Foxhole by Richard Brooks Gentleman's Agreement Moss Hart The novel by Laura Z. Hobson Great Expectations David Lean , Anthony Havelock-Allan , & Ronald Neame The novel by Charles Dickens 1948 (21st) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre John Huston The novel by B. Traven A Foreign Affair Charles Brackett , Richard L. Breen & Billy Wilder A story by David Shaw Johnny Belinda Allen Vincent & Irma von Cube The play by Elmer Blaney Harris The Search Richard Schweizer & David Wechsler [de ] – (original screenplay) The Snake Pit Millen Brand & Frank Partos The novel by Mary Jane Ward 1949 (22nd) A Letter to Three Wives Joseph L. Mankiewicz The novel by John Klempner All the King's Men Robert Rossen The novel by Robert Penn Warren The Bicycle Thief Cesare Zavattini The novel by Luigi Bartolini Champion Carl Foreman The short story by Ring Lardner The Fallen Idol Graham Greene The short story "The Basement Room" by Greene
Year Film Nominees Source Material 1950 (23rd) All About Eve Joseph L. Mankiewicz The short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr The Asphalt Jungle John Huston & Ben Maddow The novel by W. R. Burnett Born Yesterday Albert Mannheimer The play by Garson Kanin Broken Arrow Albert Maltz [ note 10] The novel Blood Brother by Elliott Arnold Father of the Bride Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett The novel by E. Streeter 1951 (24th) A Place in the Sun Harry Brown & Michael Wilson The novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser & play by Patrick Kearney The African Queen James Agee & John Huston The novel by C. S. Forester Detective Story Robert Wyler & Philip Yordan The play by Sidney Kingsley La Ronde Jacques Natanson & Max Ophüls The play by Arthur Schnitzler A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams The play by Williams 1952 (25th) The Bad and the Beautiful Charles Schnee A story by George Bradshaw 5 Fingers Michael Wilson The novel Operation Cicero by Ludwig Carl Moyzisch High Noon Carl Foreman The short story "The Tin Star" by John W. Cunningham The Man in the White Suit John Dighton , Alexander Mackendrick & Roger MacDougall A story by MacDougall The Quiet Man Frank Nugent The short story by Maurice Walsh 1953 (26th) From Here to Eternity Daniel Taradash The novel by James Jones The Cruel Sea Eric Ambler The novel by Nicholas Monsarrat Lili Helen Deutsch The short story "The Man Who Hated People" by Paul Gallico Roman Holiday John Dighton & Ian McLellan Hunter A story by Dalton Trumbo (front: Ian McLellan Hunter ) Shane A. B. Guthrie Jr. The novel by Jack Schaefer 1954 (27th) The Country Girl George Seaton The play by Clifford Odets The Caine Mutiny Stanley Roberts The novel by Herman Wouk Rear Window John Michael Hayes The short story "It Had to Be Murder" by Cornell Woolrich Sabrina Ernest Lehman , Samuel A. Taylor & Billy Wilder The play Sabrina Fair by Taylor Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Frances Goodrich , Albert Hackett & Dorothy Kingsley The short story "The Sobbin' Women" by Stephen Vincent Benét 1955 (28th) Marty Paddy Chayefsky The television play on The Philco Television Playhouse by Chayefsky Bad Day at Black Rock Millard Kaufman The short story "Bad Time at Honda" by Howard Breslin Blackboard Jungle Richard Brooks The novel by Evan Hunter East of Eden Paul Osborn The novel by John Steinbeck Love Me or Leave Me Daniel Fuchs & Isobel Lennart A story by Fuchs 1956 (29th) Around the World in 80 Days John Farrow , S. J. Perelman & James Poe The novel by Jules Verne Baby Doll Tennessee Williams The plays 27 Wagons Full of Cotton & The Long Stay Cut Short, or The Unsatisfactory Supper by Williams Friendly Persuasion Michael Wilson [ note 11] The novel by Jessamyn West Giant Fred Guiol & Ivan Moffat The novel by Edna Ferber Lust for Life Norman Corwin The novel by Irving Stone 1957 (30th) The Bridge on the River Kwai Pierre Boulle , Carl Foreman , & Michael Wilson [ note 12] The novel The Bridge over the River Kwai by Boulle 12 Angry Men Reginald Rose The teleplay on Westinghouse Studio One and play by Rose Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison John Huston & John Lee Mahin The novel by Charles Shaw Peyton Place John Michael Hayes The novel by Grace Metalious Sayonara Paul Osborn The novel by James A. Michener 1958 (31st) Gigi Alan Jay Lerner The novella by Colette Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Richard Brooks & James Poe The play & short story "Three Players of a Summer Game" by Tennessee Williams The Horse's Mouth Alec Guinness The novel by Joyce Cary I Want to Live! Nelson Gidding & Don Mankiewicz Articles by Edward S. Montgomery & letters by Barbara Graham Separate Tables John Gay & Terence Rattigan The plays by Rattigan 1959 (32nd) Room at the Top Neil Paterson The novel by John Braine Anatomy of a Murder Wendell Mayes The novel by John D. Voelker Ben-Hur Karl Tunberg The novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace The Nun's Story Robert Anderson The novel by Kathryn Hulme Some Like It Hot I. A. L. Diamond & Billy Wilder The 1935 French film Fanfare of Love written by Max Bronnet, Michael Logan, Pierre Prévert , René Pujol and Robert Thoeren & the 1951 German remake Fanfares of Love written by Logan, Thoeren and Heinz Pauck
Year Film Nominees Source Material 2000 (73rd) Traffic Stephen Gaghan The television series Traffik by Simon Moore Chocolat Robert Nelson Jacobs The novel by Joanne Harris Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Wang Hui-ling , James Schamus & Kuo Jung Tsai The novel by Wang Dulu O Brother, Where Art Thou? Joel and Ethan Coen The epic poem the Odyssey by Homer Wonder Boys Steve Kloves The novel by Michael Chabon 2001 (74th) A Beautiful Mind Akiva Goldsman The book by Sylvia Nasar Ghost World Daniel Clowes & Terry Zwigoff The graphic novel by Clowes In the Bedroom Rob Festinger & Todd Field The short story "Killings " by Andre Dubus The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Philippa Boyens , Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh The novel The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien Shrek Ted Elliott , Roger S. H. Schulman , Joe Stillman & Terry Rossio The picture book by William Steig 2002 (75th) The Pianist Ronald Harwood The memoir by Władysław Szpilman About a Boy Peter Hedges , Chris & Paul Weitz The novel by Nick Hornby Adaptation Charlie & Donald Kaufman[ note 16] [ 11] The book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean Chicago Bill Condon The musical by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse The Hours David Hare The novel by Michael Cunningham 2003 (76th) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Philippa Boyens , Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh The novel The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien American Splendor Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini The comic books by Harvey Pekar & graphic novel Our Cancer Year by Pekar & Joyce Brabner City of God Bráulio Mantovani The novel by Paulo Lins Mystic River Brian Helgeland The novel by Dennis Lehane Seabiscuit Gary Ross The book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand 2004 (77th) Sideways Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor The novel by Rex Pickett Before Sunset Screenplay: Julie Delpy , Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater ; Story: Kim Krizan & Linklater Characters from the film Before Sunrise by Krizan & Linklater Finding Neverland David Magee The play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee Million Dollar Baby Paul Haggis The short story collection Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner by F.X. Toole The Motorcycle Diaries José Rivera The memoirs Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary by Alberto Granado & The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara 2005 (78th) Brokeback Mountain Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana The short story by Annie Proulx Capote Dan Futterman The book by Gerald Clarke The Constant Gardener Jeffrey Caine The novel by John le Carré A History of Violence Josh Olson The graphic novel by Vince Locke & John Wagner Munich Tony Kushner & Eric Roth The book Vengeance by George Jonas 2006 (79th) The Departed William Monahan The film Infernal Affairs written by Felix Chong & Alan Mak Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Screenplay: Sacha Baron Cohen , Peter Baynham , Anthony Hines & Dan Mazer ; Story: Baron Cohen, Baynham, Hines & Todd Phillips The character Borat Sagdiyev from the television series Da Ali G Show by Baron Cohen Children of Men David Arata , Alfonso Cuarón , Mark Fergus , Hawk Ostby & Timothy J. Sexton The novel by P. D. James Little Children Todd Field & Tom Perrotta The novel by Perrotta Notes on a Scandal Patrick Marber The novel by Zoë Heller 2007 (80th) No Country for Old Men Coen Brothers The novel by Cormac McCarthy Atonement Christopher Hampton The novel by Ian McEwan Away from Her Sarah Polley The short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" by Alice Munro The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Ronald Harwood The memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson The novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair 2008 (81st) Slumdog Millionaire Simon Beaufoy The novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay: Eric Roth ; Story: Roth & Robin Swicord The short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald Doubt John Patrick Shanley The play Doubt: A Parable by Shanley Frost/Nixon Peter Morgan The play by Morgan The Reader David Hare The novel by Bernhard Schlink 2009 (82nd) Precious Geoffrey S. Fletcher The novel Push by Sapphire District 9 Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell The short film Alive in Joburg by Blomkamp An Education Nick Hornby The memoir by Lynn Barber In the Loop Jesse Armstrong , Simon Blackwell , Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche The character Malcolm Tucker from the television series The Thick of It by Iannucci Up in the Air Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner The novel by Walter Kirn
Year Film Nominees Source Material 2010 (83rd) The Social Network Aaron Sorkin The book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich 127 Hours Simon Beaufoy & Danny Boyle The memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston Toy Story 3 Screenplay: Michael Arndt ; Story: John Lasseter , Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich Characters from the film Toy Story by Pete Docter , Lasseter, Joe Ranft , & Stanton True Grit Coen Brothers The novel by Charles Portis Winter's Bone Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini The novel by Daniel Woodrell 2011 (84th) The Descendants Nat Faxon , Alexander Payne & Jim Rash The novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings Hugo John Logan The novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick The Ides of March George Clooney , Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon The play Farragut North by Willimon Moneyball Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zaillian ; Story: Stan Chervin The book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Bridget O'Connor (p.n. ) & Peter Straughan The novel by John le Carré 2012 (85th) Argo Chris Terrio The memoir The Master of Disguise by Tony Mendez & article "The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran" by Joshuah Bearman Beasts of the Southern Wild Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin The play Juicy and Delicious by Alibar Life of Pi David Magee The novel by Yann Martel Lincoln Tony Kushner The book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin Silver Linings Playbook David O. Russell The novel by Matthew Quick 2013 (86th) 12 Years a Slave John Ridley The memoir by Solomon Northup Before Midnight Julie Delpy , Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater Characters from the film Before Sunrise by Kim Krizan & Linklater Captain Phillips Billy Ray The memoir A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips & Stephan Talty Philomena Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope The book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith The Wolf of Wall Street Terence Winter The memoir by Jordan Belfort 2014 (87th) The Imitation Game Graham Moore The book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges American Sniper Jason Hall The memoir American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Jim DeFelice, Chris Kyle & Scott McEwan Inherent Vice Paul Thomas Anderson The novel by Thomas Pynchon The Theory of Everything Anthony McCarten The memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking Whiplash Damien Chazelle The short film by Chazelle 2015 (88th) The Big Short Charles Randolph & Adam McKay The book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis Brooklyn Nick Hornby The novel by Colm Tóibín Carol Phyllis Nagy The novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith The Martian Drew Goddard The novel by Andy Weir Room Emma Donoghue The novel by Donoghue 2016 (89th) [ 12] Moonlight Screenplay: Barry Jenkins ; Story: Tarell Alvin McCraney The unpublished play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by McCraney Arrival Eric Heisserer The novella "Story of Your Life " by Ted Chiang Fences August Wilson (p.n. ) The play by Wilson Hidden Figures Theodore Melfi & Allison Schroeder The book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly Lion Luke Davies The memoir A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley & Larry Buttrose 2017 (90th) [ 13] Call Me by Your Name James Ivory The novel by André Aciman The Disaster Artist Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber The memoir The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero & Tom Bissell Logan Screenplay: Scott Frank , Michael Green & James Mangold ; Story: Mangold The character Wolverine from the comic books by John Romita Sr. & Len Wein Molly's Game Aaron Sorkin The memoir by Molly Bloom Mudbound Dee Rees & Virgil Williams The novel by Hillary Jordan 2018 (91st) [ 14] BlacKkKlansman Spike Lee , David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel & Kevin Willmott The memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Coen Brothers The short stories "All Gold Canyon" by Jack London & "The Gal Who Got Rattled" by Stewart Edward White Can You Ever Forgive Me? Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty The memoir by Lee Israel If Beale Street Could Talk Barry Jenkins The novel by James Baldwin A Star Is Born Bradley Cooper , Will Fetters & Eric Roth The 1954 film by Moss Hart , 1976 film by Joan Didion , John Gregory Dunne & Frank Pierson & 1937 film by Robert Carson & William A. Wellman 2019 (92nd) [ 15] Jojo Rabbit Taika Waititi The novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens The Irishman Steven Zaillian The memoir I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa by Charles Brandt Joker Todd Phillips & Scott Silver The character from the comic books by Bill Finger , Bob Kane & Jerry Robinson Little Women Greta Gerwig The novel by Louisa May Alcott The Two Popes Anthony McCarten The play The Pope by McCarten
Year Film Nominees Source Material 2020/21 (93rd) [ 16] The Father Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller The play by Zeller Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery or Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Screenplay: Sacha Baron Cohen , Peter Baynham , Jena Friedman , Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer , Erica Rivinoja & Dan Swimer ; Story: Baron Cohen, Hines, Nina Pedrad & Swimer The character Borat Sagdiyev from the television series Da Ali G Show by Baron Cohen Nomadland Chloé Zhao The book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder One Night in Miami... Kemp Powers The play by Powers The White Tiger Ramin Bahrani The novel by Arvind Adiga 2021 (94th) [ 17] CODA Sian Heder The film La Famille Bélier by Victoria Bedos, Thomas Bidegain , Stanislas Carré de Malberg & Éric Lartigau Drive My Car Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe The short story by Haruki Murakami Dune Eric Roth , Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve The novel by Frank Herbert The Lost Daughter Maggie Gyllenhaal The novel by Elena Ferrante The Power of the Dog Jane Campion The novel by Thomas Savage 2022 (95th) Women Talking Sarah Polley The novel by Miriam Toews All Quiet on the Western Front Edward Berger , Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell The novel by Erich Maria Remarque Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Rian Johnson The character Benoit Blanc from the film Knives Out by Johnson Living Kazuo Ishiguro The film Ikiru by Shinobu Hashimoto , Akira Kurosawa & Hideo Oguni Top Gun: Maverick Screenplay: Ehren Kruger , Christopher McQuarrie & Eric Warren Singer ; Story: Peter Craig & Justin Marks Characters from the film Top Gun by Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr. 2023 (96th) American Fiction Cord Jefferson The novel Erasure by Percival Everett Barbie Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig The characters created by Ruth Handler Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan The book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin Poor Things Tony McNamara The novel Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer by Alisdair Gray The Zone of Interest Jonathan Glazer The novel by Martin Amis
Multiple wins and nominations [ edit ] Three or more nominations [ edit ]
^ a b c d e During these years, the award was bestowed as Best Writing, Adaptation . ^ The 2nd Academy Awards is unique in being the only occasion where there were no official nominees. Subsequent research by AMPAS has resulted in a list of unofficial or de facto nominees, based on records of which films were evaluated by the judges. ^ During this year, the award was bestowed as Best Writing and included both original and adapted screenplays. ^ The Academy also announced that Robert Riskin came in second and Paul Green and Sonya Levien third. ^ The Academy also announced that Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett came in second and Ben Hecht third. ^ From 1935 until 1955, the award was bestowed as Best Writing, Screenplay . ^ Captain Blood , written by Casey Robinson from the novel Captain Blood: His Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini , was not officially nominated for this award, but appears in Academy records because it placed third in voting as a write-in candidate in 1935. ^ The Academy also announced that Talbot Jennings, Jules Furthman, and Carey Wilson came in second and Casey Robinson third. This means Waldemar Young, John L. Balderston, Achmed Abdullah, Grover Jones, and William Slavens McNutt came in fourth. ^ Dudley Nichols refused to accept the award, but was in possession of it by 1949 according to Academy records. ^ Michael Blankfort was originally nominated as the screenwriter of Broken Arrow . In 1991, research proved blacklisted Albert Maltz was the screenwriter and his credit was restored. Blankfort was removed from the nomination and it was given to Maltz. ^ Michael Wilson was originally credited as the screenwriter of Friendly Persuasion , but Allied Artists , acting in agreement with the Screen Writers Guild , removed his credit because he was blacklisted. Early in 1957, the Academy revised its bylaws so the film would be eligible for a writing nomination without naming Wilson as a nominee. Friendly Persuasion was initially announced a nominee without a writer's name attached. The Academy's Board of Governors voted to strike the nomination altogether and it was not included on the final ballot. The Board of Governors, however, reinstated the nomination with Wilson's name attached in 2002. ^ Pierre Boulle was credited as the screenwriter of The Bridge on the River Kwai and ultimately won the award. Blacklisted writers Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman , who actually wrote the screenplay, were awarded posthumous Oscars by the Academy's Board of Governors in 1984. ^ Due to blacklisting, Young wrote under the pseudonym Nathan E. Douglas. ^ In 1995, research proved blacklisted Michael Wilson was also a screenwriter of Lawrence of Arabia . He was added as a nominee by the Academy's Board of Governors. ^ Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes was initially adapted by screenwriter Robert Towne , but he removed his name from the credits because he was unhappy with co-writer Michael Austin's alterations and the finished film itself. He instead used the pseudonym P.H. Vazak, the name of his late Hungarian sheepdog. ^ Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is a character in his own script for Adaptation , as is his fictional twin brother Donald. The nonexistent Donald was credited as a screenwriter and was nominated for an Academy Award. The film's end credits claimed he had died during pre-production. ^ "Academy Awards Best Screenplays and Writers" . ^ "Oscar Week: Best Adapted Screenplay" . 21 February 2008. ^ Aljean Harmetz (March 16, 1985). "Oscars Go to Writers of 'Kwai' " . The New York Times . ^ Johnson, Andrew (28 March 2010). "Emma Thompson: How Jane Austen saved me from going under" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 2010-04-06. Retrieved 18 August 2011 . ^ A Beautiful Mind Wins Adapted Screenplay: 2002 Oscars ^ Aaron Sorkin Wins Adapted Screenplay: 2011 Oscars ^ "Call Me by Your Name" wins Best Adapted Screenplay-Oscars on YouTube ^ 2018|Oscars.org ^ "The Official Academy Awards Database" . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2018 . ^ "The 18th Academy Awards – 1946" . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved January 17, 2018 . ^ a b Saito, Stephen (February 20, 2008). "Fake Names, Real Oscars: Five Nominees Who Didn't Really Exist" . IFC . Retrieved January 9, 2018 . ^ "Academy Awards 2017: Complete list of Oscar winners and nominees" . Los Angeles Times . February 26, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2018 . ^ "90th Oscar Nominations Announced" (PDF) . Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences . January 23, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018 . ^ "91st Oscar Nominations Announced" (PDF) . Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences . January 22, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019 . ^ "92nd Oscar Nominations Announced" (PDF) . Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences . January 22, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019 . ^ "Complete list of nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards" . ABC News . March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021 . ^ "94th Academy Awards Nominees" . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022 . ^ "James Ivory is oldest Oscar winner ever with screenplay award for Call Me by Your Name" . The Guardian . 5 March 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2020 . ^ Snubs, Surprises, and a Staring Contest: The Academy Awards Nominations - The Ringer ^ "SOC Alumnus Wins Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay" . American Washington University . 25 February 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
1928–1950 Benjamin Glazer (1928) Hanns Kräly (1929) Frances Marion (1930) Howard Estabrook (1931) Edwin J. Burke (1932) Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason (1933) Robert Riskin (1934) Dudley Nichols (1935) Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney (1936) Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg, and Norman Reilly Raine (1937) Ian Dalrymple , Cecil Arthur Lewis , W. P. Lipscomb , and George Bernard Shaw (1938) Sidney Howard (1939) Donald Ogden Stewart (1940) Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller (1941) George Froeschel , James Hilton , Claudine West , and Arthur Wimperis (1942) Philip G. Epstein , Julius J. Epstein , and Howard Koch (1943) Frank Butler and Frank Cavett (1944) Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder (1945) Robert Sherwood (1946) George Seaton (1947) John Huston (1948) Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1949) Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950) 1951–1975 1976–2000 2001–present