WGA Nods May Sharpen Oscar Race

Amid the Oscar buzz swirling over who might receive nominations this year for best picture, actor, actress and director, one of the more lively contests may be among that segment of the filmmaking industry that never seems to feel it gets enough respect: the writers.

How the Academy Award battle may take shape might get a little clearer Thursday when the Writers Guild of America announces its nominees for the best original and best adapted screenplays of 2001.

The field is crowded in the adapted screenplay category, with films such as “In the Bedroom,” “Shrek,” “Ghost World,” “Lantana,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “The Shipping News” and “A Beautiful Mind” all considered heavyweight contenders. And that doesn’t include dark-horse candidates such as “The Deep End.”

Vying for original screenplay honors will be Julian Fellowes for “Gosford Park,” David Mamet for “Heist,” Joel and Ethan Coen for “The Man Who Wasn’t There” and director Wes Anderson and actor Owen Wilson for “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Other viable contenders are “Memento,” “Monster’s Ball” and “No Man’s Land.”

This year, 187 films are eligible for the WGA award--76 adapted screenplays and 111 original screenplays. A WGA spokeswoman said that about 80% of the time, one or both winners of the WGA awards go on to win the Oscar. “It’s a very good barometer in the writing categories,” she said.

Although serious dramas filled with action sequences such as “Rocky” and “Dances With Wolves” have won writing honors in years past, it is rare, she said, that WGA members honor action movies or films with more than two writers in the credits.

The awards will be handed out March 2 in Beverly Hills and New York. The WGA has more than 10,000 members who are eligible to vote.