Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards, one that is specifically for film. The Writers Guild of America began making the distinction between an original screenplay and an adapted screenplay in 1970, when Waldo Salt, screenwriter for "Midnight Cowboy", won for "Best Adapted Drama" and Arnold Schulman won "Best Adapted Comedy" for his screenplay of "Goodbye, Columbus". [http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 wga awards ] ] Separate awards for dramas and comedies continued until 1985. [http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 wga awards ] ]

Since 1990, the WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been a good indicator for its Oscar equivalent, the Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. All but the following WGA winners were also Oscar winners:fact|date=April 2008
*in 1992 "The Player" lost to "Howards End",
*in 1998 "Out of Sight" lost to "Gods and Monsters",
*in 1999 "Election" lost to "The Cider House Rules",
*in 2002 "The Hours" lost to "The Pianist" (not nominated for a WGA Award) and
*in 2003 "American Splendor" lost to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King".

Winners and nominated films

The following lists the nominated films. For the films that won, the screenwriter(s) and the work from which the screenplay was adapted is also noted.

1970s

Drama PictureComedy or Musical Picture

*"'1976: "All the President's Men":screenplay by William Goldman:based on the book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward::"Bound for Glory"::"Marathon Man"::"The Seven-Per-Cent Solution"::"The Shootist"
*"'1976: "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" Writer(s) was not nominated for the corresponding Academy Award.] :screenplay by Blake Edwards and Frank Waldman::"The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings"::"Family Plot"::"The Ritz"::"Stay Hungry"

*"'1977: "Julia":screenplay by Alvin Sargent:based on the novel by Lillian Hellman::"I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"::"Islands in the Stream"::"Looking for Mr. Goodbar"
*"'1977: "Oh, God!" Writer(s) did not win the corresponding Academy Award] :screenplay by Larry Gelbart:based on the novel by Avery Corman::"Semi-Tough"::"The Spy Who Loved Me"

*"'1978: "Midnight Express":screenplay by Oliver Stone:based on the book by William Hayes and William Hoffer::"Bloodbrothers"::"Go Tell the Spartans"::"Invasion of the Body Snatchers"::"Who'll Stop the Rain"
*"'1978: "Heaven Can Wait" :screenplay by Warren Beatty and Elaine May:based on the play by Harry Segall::"California Suite"::"Same Time, Next Year"::"Superman"::"Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?"

*"'1979: "Kramer vs. Kramer":screenplay by Robert Benton:based on the novel by Avery Corman::"Norma Rae"
*"'1979: "Being There" :screenplay by Jerzy Kosinski:based on his novel::"A Little Romance"::"Starting Over"

1980s

Drama PictureComedy or Musical Picture

*"'1980: "Ordinary People":screenplay by Alvin Sargent:based on the novel by Judith Guest::"Coal Miner's Daughter"::"The Elephant Man"::"The Great Santini"::"The Stunt Man"
*"'1980: "Airplane!" :screenplay by Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker:based on the teleplay by Arthur Hailey::"Hopscotch"::""

*"'1981: "On Golden Pond":screenplay by Ernest Thompson:based on his play::"Cutter's Way"::"Prince of the City"::"Ragtime"
*"'1981: "Rich and Famous" :screenplay by Gerald Ayres:based on the play by John Van Druten::"First Monday in October"::"For Your Eyes Only"

*"'1982: "Missing":screenplay by Costa-Gavras and Donald Stewart:based on the book by Thomas Hauser::"Sophie's Choice"::"The Verdict"::"The World According to Garp"
*"'1982: "Victor/Victoria" :screenplay by Blake Edwards:based on the concept by Hans Hoemburg and the 1933 script by Reinhold Schünzel::"Fast Times at Ridgemont High"

*"'1983: "Reuben, Reuben" :screenplay by Julius J. Epstein:based on the novel by Peter De Vries::"The Right Stuff"::"The Year of Living Dangerously"
*"'1983: "Terms of Endearment":screenplay by James L. Brooks:based on the novel by Larry McMurtry::"A Christmas Story"::"To Be or Not to Be"

*"'1984: "The Killing Fields" :screenplay by Bruce Robinson::""::"The Natural"::"A Passage to India"::"A Soldier's Story"

*"'1985: "Prizzi's Honor" :screenplay by Richard Condon and Janet Roach:based on the novel by Condon::"Agnes of God"::"The Color Purple"::"Out of Africa"::"The Trip to Bountiful"

*"'1986: "A Room with a View":screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala:based on the novel by E.M. Forster::"Children of a Lesser God"::"Down and Out in Beverly Hills"::"Little Shop of Horrors"::"Stand by Me"

*"'1987: "Roxanne" :screenplay by Steve Martin:based on the play by Edmond Rostand::"Fatal Attraction"::"Full Metal Jacket"::"The Princess Bride"::"The Untouchables"

*"'1988: "Dangerous Liaisons":screenplay by Christopher Hampton:based on the novel by Choderlos de Laclos and the play by Hampton::"The Accidental Tourist"::""::"The Unbearable Lightness of Being"::"Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

*"'1989: "Driving Miss Daisy":screenplay by Alfred Uhry:based on his play::"Born on the Fourth of July"::"Field of Dreams"::"Glory"::"My Left Foot"

1990s

*"'1990: "Dances With Wolves":screenplay by Michael Blake:based on his novel::"Awakenings"::"Goodfellas"::"The Grifters"::"Reversal of Fortune"

*"'1991: "The Silence of the Lambs":screenplay by Ted Tally:based on the novel by Thomas Harris::"The Commitments"::"Fried Green Tomatoes"::"JFK"::"The Prince of Tides"

*"'1992: "The Player" :screenplay by Michael Tolkin:based on his novel::"Enchanted April"::"Glengarry Glen Ross"::"Howards End"::"Scent of a Woman"

*"'1993: "Schindler's List":screenplay by Steven Zaillian:based on the book by Thomas Keneally::"The Fugitive"::"In the Name of the Father"::"The Joy Luck Club"::"The Remains of the Day"

*"'1994: "Forrest Gump":screenplay by Eric Roth:based on the novel by Winston Groom::"Forrest Gump"::"The Madness of King George"::"Quiz Show"::"The Shawshank Redemption"

*"'1995: "Sense and Sensibility":screenplay by Emma Thompson:based on the novel by Jane Austen::"Apollo 13"::"Babe"::"Get Shorty"::"Leaving Las Vegas"

*"'1996: "Sling Blade":screenplay by Billy Bob Thornton:based on his stage play::"The Birdcage"::"Emma"::"The English Patient"::"Trainspotting"

*"'1997: "L.A. Confidential":screenplay by Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland:based on the novel by James Ellroy::"Donnie Brasco"::"The Ice Storm"::"Wag the Dog"::"The Wings of the Dove"

*"'1998: "Out of Sight" :screenplay by Scott Frank:based on the novel by Elmore Leonard::"A Civil Action"::"Gods and Monsters"::"Primary Colors"::"A Simple Plan"

*"'1999: "Election" :screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor:based on the novel by Tom Perrotta::"The Cider House Rules"::"The Insider"::"October Sky"::"The Talented Mr. Ripley"

2000s

*"'2000: "Traffic":screenplay by Stephen Gaghan:based on the British TV series "Traffik"::"Chocolat"::"High Fidelity"::"Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)"::"Wonder Boys"

*"'2001: "A Beautiful Mind":screenplay by Akiva Goldsman:based on the book by Sylvia Nasar::"Black Hawk Down"::"Bridget Jones's Diary"::"Ghost World"::""

*"'2002: "The Hours" :screenplay by David Hare:based on the novel by Michael Cunningham::"About a Boy"::"About Schmidt"::"Adaptation."::"Chicago"

*"'2003: "American Splendor" :screenplay by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman:based on the comic book series/novel by Harvey Pekar::"Cold Mountain"::""::"Mystic River"::"Seabiscuit"

*"'2004: "Sideways":screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor:based on the novel by Rex Pickett::"Before Sunset"::"The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta)"::"Mean Girls"::"Million Dollar Baby"

*"'2005: "Brokeback Mountain":screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana:based on the short story by Annie Proulx::"Capote"::"The Constant Gardener"::"A History of Violence"::"Syriana"

*"'2006: "The Departed":screenplay by William Monahan:based on the Hong Kong film "Infernal Affairs (Mou gaan dou)"::""::"The Devil Wears Prada"::"Little Children"::"Thank You for Smoking"

*"'2007: "No Country for Old Men" :screenplay by Ethan and Joel Coen:based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy::"There Will Be Blood" ::"Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)" ::"Into the Wild" ::"Zodiac"

References and footnotes