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2025 WGA Awards: Top Screenplays Ineligible for Consideration
A number of highly regarded screenplays will not be competing for recognition at the upcoming 2025 Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards, as revealed by the voting ballot released on Monday.
Several contenders in the Best Adapted Screenplay category that are currently in the running for an Oscar will not receive nominations from the WGA. Notable titles include Conclave by Peter Straughan, Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard, I’m Still Here by Walter Salles, Inside Out 2 by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, with a story from LeFauve and Kesley Mann, The Outrun by Nora Fingscheidt and Amy Liptrot, The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar, Sing Sing by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, and The Wild Robot by Chris Sanders.
Additionally, several hopefuls in the Best Original Screenplay category appear on the WGA’s ineligible list. These include All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia, The Brutalist by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, Didi by Sean Wang, A Different Man by Aaron Schimberg, Hard Truths by Mike Leigh, His Three Daughters by Azazel Jacobs, I Saw the TV Glow by Jane Schoenbrun, The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof, September 5 by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, and Alex David, and The Substance by Coralie Fargeat.
According to the current odds on Gold Derby, three of the top five films expected to contend for the Oscar in the adapted screenplay category—Conclave, Sing Sing, and Emilia Pérez—are not eligible. The same applies to The Room Next Door and I’m Still Here, which rank sixth and seventh, respectively. This situation may favor eligible films such as Nickel Boys, Dune: Part Two, Wicked, The Piano Lesson, and A Complete Unknown for a potential win at the WGA Awards.
On the original screenplay front, five out of the top seven Oscar contenders are also ineligible. This includes The Brutalist, The Substance, Hard Truths, September 5, and The Seed of the Sacred Fig. However, films like Anora, along with A Real Pain and Challengers, remain in the running for WGA nominations.
The WGA Awards traditionally exclude some prominent films from contention due to specific eligibility criteria. A project produced outside the WGA collective bargaining agreement or written by a non-union member does not qualify for the guild’s awards.
Nominations for the 2025 WGA Awards will be announced on January 9, 2025, with the ceremony to follow on February 15, 2025.
Correction: An earlier version of this post mistakenly categorized Gladiator II as ineligible; however, the screenplay by David Scarpa is indeed on the ballot for adapted screenplay.
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