It seems entirely fitting that our two contenders for Best Picture are both all but certain to collect Oscars for screenwriting. With adapted screenplay wins at the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, and with the WGA, Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another) is the first screenwriter to sweep all major precursors since Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) in 2010.
Ryan Coogler (Sinners) has seen a similar run with original screenplay wins at all but the Globes, purely due to the fact that they have a combined screenplay category. Barring an upset the likes of which we haven’t seen in years, Anderson and Coogler will both be winners by the end of the night.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY PREDICTIONS:
1. One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA
Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Hamnet (Focus Features) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA
Maggie O’Farrell & Chloé Zhao
3. Bugonia (Focus Features) – BAFTA, CCA, WGA
Will Tracy
4. Frankenstein (Netflix) – CCA, WGA
Guillermo del Toro
5. Train Dreams (Netflix) – CCA, WGA
Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
Will win: One Battle After Another
Should win: One Battle After Another
Possible upset: Anything else
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY PREDICTIONS:
1. Sinners (Warner Bros.) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA
Ryan Coogler
2. Sentimental Value (NEON) – BAFTA, CCA, GG
Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt
3. Marty Supreme (A24) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, WGA
Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
4. It Was Just an Accident (NEON) – GG
Jafar Panahi
5. Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Robert Kaplow
Will win: Sinners
Should win: Sinners
Possible upset: Anything else
