Writers and Art Directors Guild Nominees Declare ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘The Shape of Water’ Oscar Frontrunners
The Art Directors and Writers Guild nominations are never perfect Oscar prognosticators: The ADG has 15 slots for its three categories, while the WGA omits many likely Oscar contenders who aren’t signatories. Still, there’s plenty to glean.
Clearly, the past few days tell us that late-breaking “I, Tonya” and “Molly’s Game” are popular players. The most shocking WGA omissions are Liz Hannah and Josh Singer’s brainy script for “The Post,” which is considered a competitive Oscar player, as well as Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread,” which was also left out of the Art Directors Guild’s 15 nominees.
Original Screenplay Oscar
Frontrunners
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“The Shape of Water”
Contenders
“The Big Sick“
“I, Tonya”
Ineligible for WGA
“Coco”
“Darkest Hour”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Snubs
Paul Thomas Anderson
(“Phantom Thread”)
Sean Baker (“The Florida Project”)
Liz Hannah and Josh Singer (“The Post”)
Christopher Nolan
(“Dunkirk”)
Adapted Screenplay Oscar
Frontrunners
“Call Me by Your Name”
“The Disaster Artist”
“Logan”
“Molly’s Game”
“Mudbound”
Ineligible for WGA
“Victoria & Abdul”
Snubs
“The Beguiled”
“Blade Runner 2049”
“First They Killed My Father”
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
“War for the Planet of the Apes”
“Wonder Woman”
As for the feature documentary Oscar race, moving forward is Brett Morgen’s WGA-nominated “Jane,” while other WGA nominees are less certain: “Betting on Zero,” “No Stone Unturned” and “Oklahoma City.”
As for the Art Directors Guild, likely Oscar nominees for Production Design include period films (which have the advantage) “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” and “The Shape of Water,” as well as fantasy films “Beauty and the Beast” and frontrunner “Blade Runner 2049.”
Notably omitted from the Period category was “Phantom Thread.” Contemporary films like ADG nominees “Lady Bird,” “Logan” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” are less likely to make the grade with Oscar voters, but reveal that those films are well regarded.
Adding animation for the first time, ADG threw its support behind Pixar’s “Coco” and “Cars 3,” Illumination’s “Despicable Me 3,” Warner Animation’s “The Lego Batman Movie,” and painterly indie “Loving Vincent.”
