Was 2011 the year of the quirky, occasionally dark comedy? That’s certainly the theme of the just-announced Writers Guild Awards nominations. Although many of them are also fairly dark, all five of the WGA’s nominees for best original screenplay are comedies: 50/50, Bridesmaids, Midnight in Paris, Win Win, and Young Adult. Dramas do take up three of the five adapted screenplay slots, but this is still a huge victory for comedies, which are notoriously overlooked for major awards. Last year, for instance, only one of the original screenplay nominees (The Kids Are All Right) was a comedy. See the full list of WGA nods after the jump.
Original screenplay 50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight Young Adult, Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures
Adapted screenplay: The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming; Fox Searchlight The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts; Columbia Pictures The Help, Screenplay by Tate Taylor; Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett; DreamWorks Pictures Hugo, Screenplay by John Logan; Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; Paramount Pictures Moneyball, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; Based on the book by Michael Lewis; Columbia Pictures
Documentary screenplay: Better This World, Written by Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega; Loteria Films If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Written by Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek; Oscilloscope Pictures Nostalgia for the Light, Written by Patricio Guzmán; Icarus Films Pina, Screenplay by Wim Wenders; Sundance Selects Position Among the Stars, Script by Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich; HBO Films Senna, Written by Manish Pandey; Producers Distribution Agency
[via Deadline]