The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has unveiled its nominees for the 2025 WGA Awards, highlighting a mix of familiar Oscar frontrunners, unexpected entries, and the creative reshuffling prompted by ineligible contenders.
Sean Baker’s critically acclaimed “Anora” is leading the original screenplay list, which many consider the Oscar frontrunner in this category. Another strong contender is Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” a personal, semi-autobiographical drama that has been a critical favorite this season.
The inclusion of Justin Kuritzkes’ “Challengers” — a romantic sports drama starring Zendaya — is significant. After its high-profile shutout at the BAFTA Awards, this nomination could rejuvenate its awards season momentum. Adding variety to the category is Alex Garland’s bold post-apocalyptic thriller, “Civil War,” and Megan Park’s sweet yet irreverent comedy, “My Old Ass.” Park, who won praise for her directorial debut “The Fallout,” is also a DGA nominee for first-time director.
Other notable nominees include RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Nickel Boys,” and Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox’s blockbuster musical smash screenplay for “Wicked.” These nominees capitalized on a wave of ineligible titles, including “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Sing Sing,” and “I’m Still Here,” which opened the door for other contenders to shine.
The WGA’s strict eligibility rules have led to some high-profile exclusions as in previous years. Original screenplays like “All We Imagine as Light” (Janus Films/Sideshow), “The Brutalist” (A24), and “Hard Truths” (Bleecker Street) were deemed ineligible, alongside anticipated adapted screenplays such as Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” and Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Outrun”.
The impact of these ineligibilities is most glaring in the absence of key contenders like Robert Eggers’ gothic horror “Nosferatu,” Malcolm Washington and Virgil Williams’ adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” and Marielle Heller’s dark comedy “Nightbitch.”
Even more surprising was the exclusion of Sony Pictures’ “Saturday Night,” a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, as well as Halina Reijn’s provocative erotic drama “Babygirl” and Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ horror thriller “Heretic.”
On the television side, the WGA stuck to fan-favourite choices for the drama series category, with FX’s epic adaptation of James Clavell’s “Shōgun,” Netflix’s political thriller “The Diplomat,” and three Prime Video heavyweights — “The Boys,” “Fallout,” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”