The five films in contention for the 2021 Best Original Screenplay Oscar have collectively pulled off a feat for the first time in the 81-year history of the category. “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Minari,” “Promising Young Woman,” “Sound of Metal,” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” each reaped Best Picture bids in addition to their writing nominations.
Add in “Mank,” and a whopping 75% of this year’s eight contenders for the highest honor derive from original scripts. Only “The Father” and “Nomadland” are adaptations of existing material (a play and non-fiction book respectively).
There has been a decade worth of Oscar ceremonies in which four of the five Best Original Screenplay nominees were nominated for Best Picture while one was snubbed. Not surprisingly, four of these 10 times happened in the years since the academy expanded the Best Picture race beyond five. But the other six instances were during the time that there were only five nominees for both races, making the achievement even more notable.
Scroll through our gallery and analytical breakdown of those 10 occurrences, presented in order from most to least recent.
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