Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Usually it's that the screenwriter isn't a member of the WGA or the production was made under a non-union contract.

What makes a screenplay ineligible for a WGA nomination?

One thing is for sure: the Oscar nominees in both screenplay categories aren't just going to be a Xerox copy of WGA, and that's some cause for celebration.

OK, this is an 11 1/2-th hour development: it's just been discovered (and confirmed) that Birdman is also ineligible at the Writers' Guild.

So, the nominees to be released tomorrow will not include it (or any of the titles previously mentioned).

Is it me, or is this year more a mess than usual?

Given that both Selma and Mr. Turner seem very likely Academy possibilities (the former based on overall popularity, the latter because at this point it's foolish to count out a well-received Mike Leigh effort with this branch), that WGA category won't tell us as much about the strength of the contenders overall in that field. Even something eligible that DOESN'T make it in with WGA could still easily show up on Oscar nom morning, just because fields with an over-abundance of candidates often result in very close races where differing memberships could favor slightly different outcomes.

As Mister Tee said, The Theory of Everything already seemed like a default Adapted Screenplay nominee in a field without too many heavyweight options, so it'll be interesting to see what the WGA goes with after The Imitation Game and Gone Girl. It's interesting -- so many candidates that seem like they'd be possible (Wild, Still Alice, Inherent Vice, Unbroken, American Sniper) are in the as yet-unreleased category, so it seems like anyone's guess which candidates voters might favor.

As always, some films will not be eligible for WGA nomination -- though the list seems shorter this year:

Original

Selma
Mr. Turner
Calvary
Dear White People
Wild Tales

Adapted

The Theory of Everything
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
A Most Wanted Man

Selma is obviously the most notable omission -- this means the film will not have a direct face-off with Boyhood/Birdman/Grand Budapest prior to the Oscars.

Mr. Turner probably makes less difference, because 1) it's an unlikely winner anywhere and 2) it's traditional for Mike Leigh nominations to come as a surprise on Nominations Morning.

The Theory of Everything feels like a weak-ish, "only because there's nothing else" nominee for the Oscars, but this will deny any WGA sneak preview.

With two animated features specifically listed, it makes one wonder if LEGO is eligible (an issue that, up till a few hours ago, hadn't seemed to matter).