DEADPOOL A Surprise Nominee For Writers Guild Award

Deadpool WGA Awards

The awards handed out by the various Hollywood creative guilds often serve as an indicator of what films may be in consideration for Academy Award nomination. And if that is so, there may be a comic book movie that could be up for an Oscar later this month as Deadpool has been nominated by the Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted screenplay.

Deadpool finds itself in some prestigious company with more expected films like La La Land, Moonlight, Manchester By The Sea, Fences and Arrival finding spots among the nominees.

This is not the first time that a comic book adaptation has been in contention for a Writers Guild award. In 2015 the WGA had nominated Guardians Of The Galaxy in the same Best Adapted Screenplay category.

So does this mean we may be looking at the possibility of either phrase “Academy Award nominated” or “Academy Award winning” being used in discussion of the superhero comedy? It’s a possibility, but it might be a long shot. The Guild and the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences have differing rules for their respective Best Adapted Screenplay categories. And that means that Loving and Moonlight will be competing for a spot among the Academy’s Best Adapted Screenplay nominees, where they considered eligible for the Best Original Screenplay by the Writers Guild.

The Academy Award nominees are set to be announced on Tuesday, January 24th while the Writers Guild Awards will be announced Sunday, February 19.

Here’s the complete list of nominees-

Original Screenplay

  • Hell or High Water – Taylor Sheridan
  • La La Land – Damien Chazelle
  • Loving – Jeff Nichols
  • Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan
  • Moonlight – screenplay by Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell McCraney

Adapted Screenplay

  • Arrival – screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on the story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang
  • Deadpool – written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, based on the X-Men comic books
  • Fences – screenplay by August Wilson, based on his play
  • Hidden Figures – screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly
  • Nocturnal Animals – screenplay by Tom Ford, based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright

Documentary Screenplay

  • Author: The JT LeRoy Story – Jeff Feuerzeig
  • Zero Days – Alex Gibney
  • Command and Control – telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts, based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser
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About Rich Drees 7265 Articles
A film fan since he first saw that Rebel Blockade Runner fleeing the massive Imperial Star Destroyer at the tender age of 8 and a veteran freelance journalist with twenty-five years experience writing about film and pop culture. He is a member of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle.
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