Scripter Awards 2019: Black Panther, Sharp Objects Among Nominees
On Tuesday, January 15, the USC Libraries announced the nominees for the 31st annual Scripter Awards, the ceremony that honors the best film and television scripts of the year and the works they adapt. Among the honorees are Marvel Studios' Black Panther and HBO's hit limited series Sharp Objects.
Should Black Panther take home the Scripter Award in the film category on Saturday, February 9, the accolade will go to writer-director Ryan Coogler and his scripting partner Joe Robert Cole. Disney and Marvel Comics will also share in the recognition.
The USC Libraries also nominated the Melissa McCarthy-led drama Can You Ever Forgive Me?, based on author Lee Israel's 2008 memoir of the same name; Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk, an adaptation of James Baldwin's 1974 novel; Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin, which screenwriters David Schneider, Ian Martin and Peter Fellows translated to film from Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin's French graphic novel La Mort de Staline; and the underappreciated film Leave No Trace, written by Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini and based on Peter Rock's novel My Abandonment.
On the television side, six series earned nominations, due to a tie: A Very English Scandal, Patrick Melrose, Sharp Objects, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Looming Tower.
Sharp Objects, which translates Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name for a thrilling, disturbing series led by Amy Adams, very well might take home the award this year, but it has some stiff competition — particularly in The Handmaid's Tale and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. The former won a Scripter Award in 2018, and the latter has been cleaning up this awards season, winning a few Golden Globes and a pair of Critics' Choice Awards this past month.
Check out the full list of 2019 Scripter Awards in the list below. The winners will be revealed during the ceremony at the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library on February 9.
Film
Black Panther
Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, based on the character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Disney and Marvel Comics
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty and author Lee Israel
Fox Searchlight and Simon & Schuster
The Death of Stalin
Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, and David Schneider, based on the graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin
IFC Films and Titan Comics
If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins and author James Baldwin
Annapurna Pictures and Vintage International
Leave No Trace
Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, based on the novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Bleecker Street and Mariner Books
Television
A Very English ScandalRussell T. Davies and author John Preston
Amazon Studios and Other Press
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Tom Rob Smith, for the episode "The Man Who Would Be Vogue," and author Maureen Orth for the nonfiction book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History
FX and Bantam Books
The Handmaid's Tale
Bruce Miller and Kira Snyder, for the episode "Holly," and author Margaret Atwood
Hulu and Anchor
The Looming Tower
Dan Futterman and Ali Selim, for the episode "9/11," and author Lawrence Wright
Hulu and Penguin Random House
Patrick Melrose
David Nicholls for the episode "Bad News," based on the series of novels by Edward St. Aubyn
Showtime and Picador
Sharp Objects
Marti Noxon for the episode "Vanish," and author Gillian Flynn
HBO and Broadway Books