The USC Scripter Nominations honoring the best in Adapted Screenplays and their source material for 2025 have been announced. The winners will be announced on January 24th. Here are this year’s nominees…
FILM NOMINEES
“Frankenstein” (Netflix) — Guillermo del Toro — Based on the novel “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley; Penguin (publisher)
“Hamnet” (Focus Features) — Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell — Based on O’Farrell’s novel of the same name; Vintage Books (publisher)
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.) — Paul Thomas Anderson — Based on the novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon; Penguin (publisher)
“Peter Hujar’s Day” (Janus Films) — Ira Sachs — Based on the book of the same name by Linda Rosenkrantz; Magic Hour Press (publisher)
“Train Dreams” (Netflix) — Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar — Based on the novella of the same name by Denis Johnson; Picador (publisher)
TV NOMINEES
“Dark Winds” (AMC) — Episode: “Ábidoo’niidę́ę́ (What He Had Been Told)” by Max Hurwitz and Billy Luther — Based on the novels “Dancehall of the Dead” and “The Sinister Pig” by Tony Hillerman; Harper (publisher)
“Death by Lightning” (Netflix) — Episode: “Destiny of the Republic” by Mike Makowsky — Based on the nonfiction book “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President” by Candice Millard; Anchor (publisher)
“Dept. Q” (Netflix) — Untitled first episode by Chandni Lakhani and Scott Frank — Based on the novel “The Keeper of Lost Causes” by Jussi Adler-Olsen; Penguin (publisher)
“Slow Horses” (Apple TV) — Episode: “Scars” by Will Smith — Based on the novel “London Rules” by Mick Herron; Soho Crime (publisher)
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” (PBS) — Series by Peter Straughan — Based on the novel “The Mirror and the Light” by Hilary Mantel; Henry Holt (publisher)
What do you think will be the final five nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay and which film do you think will win the USC Scripter Award? Please let us know your thoughts on our X account. Click here for more upcoming awards season dates, here for the most recent tally of awards season winners, here for our precursor tracker, and here for our current Oscar predictions.
