‘Challengers,’ ‘Dune 2’ and ‘Wicked’ Among the Nominees
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has unveiled its nominees for the 2025 WGA Awards, a mix of Oscar frontrunners, unexpected entries, and reshuffling by ineligible contenders.
Sean Baker’s critically acclaimed “Anora” is leading the original screenplay list, which many consider the Oscar frontrunner in this category.
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Another strong contender is Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” a personal dramedy, and 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 momentum. Adding variety is Alex Garland’s post-apocalyptic thriller, “Civil War,” and Megan Park’s 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 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.”
Some nominees benefited from ineligible titles, including “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Sing Sing,” and “I’m Still Here.”
The WGA’s strict rules have led to exclusions. Original screenplays like “All We Imagine as Light” (Janus Films/Sideshow), “The Brutalist” (A24), and “Hard Truths” (Bleecker Street) were ineligible, alongside anticipated adapted screenplays such as Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” and Sony Classics’ “The Outrun”.
The notable absence of contenders: 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.”
On the TV side, the WGA stuck to fan-favorite 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.”
Comedy nominees delivered crowd-pleasers. ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” FX’s culinary dramedy “The Bear,” and HBO/Max’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Hacks” all earned nods, alongside the vampire comedy “What We Do in the Shadows.”
The limited series category served up its first prominent mentions for potential Emmy contenders, including HBO/Max’s “The Penguin,” Apple TV+’s courtroom drama “Presumed Innocent,” and Hulu’s political thriller “Say Nothing.” Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Ripley” and HBO/Max’s “True Detective: Night Country” nabbed their final mentions for this TV run.
Complete list of this year’s nominees:
Original Screenplay
- “A Real Pain” — Written by Jesse Eisenberg; Searchlight Pictures
- “Anora” — Written by Sean Baker; Neon
- “Challengers” — Written by Justin Kuritzkes; Amazon MGM Studios
- “Civil War” — Written by Alex Garland; A24
- “My Old Ass” — Written by Megan Park; Amazon MGM Studios
Adapted Screenplay
- “A Complete Unknown” — Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks, Based on the Book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald; Searchlight Pictures
- “Dune: Part Two” — Screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, Based on the Novel Dune by Frank Herbert; Warner Bros.
- “Hit Man” — Screenplay by Richard Linklater & Glen Powell, Based on the Texas Monthly Article by Skip Hollandsworth; Netflix
- “Nickel Boys” — Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Based on the Book The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead; Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios
- “Wicked” — Screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox, Based on the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, From the Novel by Gregory Maguire; Universal Pictures
Documentary
- “Jim Henson: Idea Man” — Written by Mark Monroe; Imagine Documentaries
- “Kiss the Future” — Screenplay by Bill S. Carter, Story by Bill S. Carter and Nenad Cicin-Sain; Fifth Season
- “Martha” — Written by R.J. Cutler; Netflix
- “War Game” — Written by Tony Gerber & Jesse Moss; Submarine Deluxe
Drama Series
- “The Boys” — Written by Geoff Aull, Jessica Chou, Paul Grellong, Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Judalina Neira, David Reed, Anslem Richardson; Prime Video
- “The Diplomat” — Written by Peter Ackerman, Eli Attie, Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Julianna Dudley Meagher, Peter Noah; Netflix
- “Fallout” — Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video
- “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” — Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video
- “Shōgun” — Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
Comedy Series
- “Abbott Elementary” — Written by Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Chad Morton, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Rebekka Pesqueira, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner; ABC
- “The Bear” — Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Will Guidara, Matty Matheson, Alex Russell, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer, Courtney Storer; FX/Hulu
- “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — Written by Larry David, Jon Hayman, Justin Hurwitz, Carol Leifer, Stephen Leff, Jeff Schaffer, Nathaniel Stein; HBO | Max
- “Hacks” — Written by Genevieve Aniello, Lucia Aniello, Guy Branum, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Jess Dweck, Ariel Karlin, Andrew Law, Carol Leifer, Carolyn Lipka, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Jen Statsky; HBO | Max
- “What We Do in the Shadows” — Written by Jake Bender, Max Brockman, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Amelia Haller, Sam Johnson, Jeremy Levick, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Rajat Suresh, Lauren Wells; FX/Hulu
New Series
- “English Teacher” — Written by Brian Jordan Alvarez, Wally Baram, Jake Bender, Emmy Blotnick, Zach Dunn, Dave King, Stephanie Koenig, Jonathan Krisel, Paul Simms, Samantha Shier; FX/Hulu
- “Fallout” — Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video
- “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” — Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video
- “Nobody Wants This” — Written by Barbie Adler, Jane Becker, Jack Burditt, Vali Chandrasekaran, Craig DiGregorio, Erin Foster, Lindsay Golder, Steven Levitan, Pat Regan, Niki Schwartz-Wright, Neel Shah, Noelle Valdivia, Ron Weiner, Ryann Werner; Netflix
- “Shōgun” — Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
Limited Series
- “The Penguin” — Written by Vladimir Cvetko, Breannah Gibson, Erika L. Johnson, Lauren LeFranc, Corina Maritescu, Megan Martin, John McCutcheon, Shaye Ogbonna, Nick Towne, Noelle Valdivia, Kira Snyder; HBO | Max
- “Presumed Innocent” — Written by Miki Johnson, David E. Kelley, Sharr White; Apple TV+
- “Ripley” — Written by Steven Zaillian; Netflix
- “Say Nothing” — Written by Clare Barron, Joe Murtagh, Kirsten Sheridan, Joshua Zetumer; FX/Hulu
- “True Detective: Night Country” — Written by Katrina Albright, Alan Page Arriaga, Namsi Khan, Issa López, Chris Mundy, Wenonah Wilms; HBO | Max
TV & Streaming Motion Pictures
- “The Great Lillian Hall” — Written by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone; HBO | Max
- “Prom Dates” — Written by D.J. Mausner; Hulu
- “Rebel Ridge” — Written by Jeremy Saulnier; Netflix
- “Terry McMillan Presents Forever” — Written by Bart Baker; Lifetime
Animation
- “Bottle Episode” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by Rob LaZebnik & Johnny LaZebnik; Fox
- “Cremains of the Day” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by John Frink; Fox
- “Night of the Living Wage” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by Cesar Mazariegos; Fox
- “Saving Favorite Drive-In” (“Bob’s Burgers”) — Written by Katie Crown; Fox
- “The Tina Table: The Tables Have Tina-ed” (“Bob’s Burgers”) — Written by Greg Thompson; Fox
- “Winter Is Born” (“Blood of Zeus”) — Written by Charles Parlapanides & Vlas Parlapanides; Netflix
Episodic Drama
- “Anjin” (“Shōgun”) — Written for Television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks; FX/Hulu
- “The Beginning” (“Fallout”) — Written by Gursimran Sandhu; Prime Video
- “Fear of the End” (“Evil”) — Written by Rockne S. O’Bannon & Nialla LeBouef; Paramount+
- “First Date” (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) — Written by Francesca Sloane & Donald Glover; Prime Video
- “Olivia” (“Sugar”) — Written by Mark Protosevich; Apple TV+
- “Pilot” (“Elsbeth”) — Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
Episodic Comedy
- “AGG” (“Somebody Somewhere”) — Written by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett; HBO | Max
- “Bulletproof” (“Hacks”) — Written by Lucia Aniello & Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky; HBO | Max
- “Linda” (“English Teacher”) — Written by Jake Bender & Zach Dunn; FX/Hulu
- “Napkins” (“The Bear”) — Written by Catherine Schetina; FX/Hulu
- “Once Upon a Time in the West” (“Only Murders in the Building”) — Written by John Hoffman & Joshua Allen Griffith; Hulu
- “Petiole” (“The Sticky”) — Written by Brian Donovan & Ed Herro; Prime Video
