WGA Predictions

The Writers Guild of America announces their picks for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay tomorrow. These are often a decent predictor of the Oscar lineup. I do not expect too many surprises here, though I would love to see “In the Valley of Elah”, “Gone Baby Gone”, or “The Assassination of Jesse James” get into the fray here. I am also pulling for a surprise “Superbad” appearance in the Best Original Screenplay. “Knocked Up” is a likely choice here because WGA often recognizes hip, younger movies like “Mean Girls”, “Garden State”, and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”. Both “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” seems unlikely but how cool would that be? I do think that “Ratatouille” will be left off the list since the popular animated films usually miss out at WGA (“Finding Nemo” and “Shrek” most recently). If “Atonement” gets snubbed, that is BAD news for the film. The adapted list is pretty much the assumed five that could easily make it to Oscar.

Predictions for the two categories:

Best Original Screenplay
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
JUNO
KNOCKED UP
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
MICHAEL CLAYTON

Best Adapted Screenplay
ATONEMENT
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
INTO THE WILD
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD