Read this year’s Oscar Award Nominated Feature Scripts!
One of the best ways to up your screenwriting game is to read screenplays, and with the Oscar nominations out, you now have the opportunity to read some of the hottest 2021/22 movie scripts online.
Read Power of the Dog and understand how Jane Campion communicates her theme of toxic masculinity through the screenplay; see how a highly visual feature like West Side Story works on the page; learn how CODA wrote sign language into the script; or how the screenwriters of Don’t Look Up convey metaphor. There are endless lessons to be gleaned from screenplays, so find one that inspires you and dive in!
Here’s a list of this season’s Oscar nominated feature films (as well as a few other notable scripts from the past year). Click on the movie title to read the screenplay while you still can (some are only available for a few weeks):
Best Picture Nominees:
BELFAST - (Focus Features) - Screenplay Kenneth Branagh
CODA - (Apple+) - Screenplay by Siân Heder
DON'T LOOK UP - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
DRIVE MY CAR - (Bitters End) - Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchian and Takamasa Oe, based on a short story by Haruki Murakami *script not yet available online
DUNE - (Warner Bros) - Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
KING RICHARD - (Warner Bros) - Screenplay by Zach Baylin
LICORICE PIZZA - (MGM Studios) - Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson *script not yet available online
NIGHTMARE ALLEY - (Searchlight) - Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Kim Morgan, Based on the Novel by William Lindsay Gresham
THE POWER OF THE DOG - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Jane Campion, Based on The Power of the Dog By Thomas Savage
WEST SIDE STORY - (20th Century Studios) - Screenplay by Tony Kushner, Based on the book for the musical by Arthur Laurents
Writing (Adapted screenplay):
CODA - (Apple+) - Screenplay by Siân Heder
DRIVE MY CAR - (Bitters End) - Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchian and Takamasa Oe, based on a short story by Haruki Murakami *script not yet available online
DUNE - (Warner Bros) - Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
THE LOST DAUGHTER - (Netflix) - FYC draft by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Elena Ferrante
THE POWER OF THE DOG - (Netflix) - Undated, unspecified FYC draft by Jane Campion, Based on The Power of the Dog By Thomas Savage
Writing (Original screenplay):
BELFAST - (Focus Features) - Screenplay Kenneth Branagh
DON'T LOOK UP - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
KING RICHARD - (Warner Bros) - Screenplay by Zach Baylin
LICORICE PIZZA - (MGM Studios) - Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson *script not yet available online
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD - (Neon) - Screenplay by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier *script not yet available online
Best Animated Feature Nominees:
ENCANTO - (Pixar) - Screenplay by Charise Castro Smith & Jared Bush
LUCA - (Walt Disney Animation) - Screenplay by Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Mike Rianda And Jeff Rowe
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON - (Walt Disney Animation) - Screenplay by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim
*The animated documentary FLEE is also nominated
Screenplays for some other notable 2021/2022 films:
ANNETTE - (Amazon) - Screenplay by Ron Mael and Russell Mael
BEING THE RICARDOS - (Amazon) - Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
THE CARD COUNTER - (Focus Features) - Screenplay by Paul Schrader
C’MON C’MON - (A24) - Screenplay by Mike Mills
CYRANO - (United Artists) - Screenplay by Erica Schmidt, based on the stage musical adapted and directed by Erica Schmidt from Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, Music by Aaron & Bryce Dessner, Lyrics by Matt Berninger & Carin Besser
THE ELECTRIC LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN - (Amazon) - Screenplay by Simon Stephenson and Will Sharpe
THE FRENCH DISPATCH - (Searchlight) - Screenplay by Wes Anderson, Story By Wes Anderson Roman Coppola Hugo Guinness Jason Schwartzman
THE HAND OF GOD (E’ Stata La Mano DiDio) - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Paolo Sorrentino
THE HARDER THEY FALL - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Jeymes Samuel and Boaz Yakin, story by Jeymes Samuel
THE HUMANS - (A24) - Screenplay by Stephen Karam, From a play by Stephen Karam
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO - (Focus Features) - Screenplay by Edgar Wright & Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Story by Edgar Wright
MASS - (Bleeker Street) - Screenplay by Fran Kranz
PASSING - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Rebecca Hall, based on the Novella by Nella Larsen
RED ROCKET - (A24) - Screenplay by Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch
RESPECT - (United Artists) - Screenplay by Tracey Scott Wilson, Story by Callie Khouri and Tracey Scott Wilson
SPENCER - (Neon) - Screenplay by Steven Knight
STILLWATER - (Focus Features) - Screenplay by Tom McCarthy & Marcus Hinchey and Thomas Bidegain & Noé Debré
SWAN SONG - (Apple+) - Screenplay by Benjamin Cleary
TICK, TICK… BOOM! - (Netflix) - Screenplay by Steven Levenson, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, Based on the musical by Jonathan Larson
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH - (Apple+) - Screenplay by Joel Coen, based on the play by William Shakespeare
What award nominated scripts inspire you? Let me know @CaroleKirsch!