Thanks to @TheAcademy for recognizing #TheBigShort with Best Adapted Screenplay at the #Oscars! pic.twitter.com/Op9uVZ52PE
— The Big Short Movie (@thebigshort) February 29, 2016
The first awards are trickling in as the 88th Annual Academy Awards get underway. First, for Best Original Screenplay, Spotlight beat out a murderers’ row of brilliant films — Bridge of Spies, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Straight Outta Compton. This was Tom McCarthy’s third nomination, and he beat out his former Pixar collaborators after being nominated for writing Up in 2009.
Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight, written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
The Best Adapted Screenplay field was just as strong, with Brooklyn, Carol, The Martian and Room all looking like contenders. But, in the end, Adam McKay and Charles Randolph’s adaptation of Michael Lewis’ hilarious and horrifying look at the financial crisis of 2007/08 won out.
Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short, screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
These categories were likely the most difficult to predict, despite the Oscar winners showing strongly during the award season. Inside Out and Pixar are hard to deny, and Ex Machina seemed like a dark horse underdog. That said, Spotlight has been a frontrunner for a while and The Big Short has also looked like a likely winner. The lingering question: Will either of these wins suggest a pattern for awards to come and will either of these films walk off with the night’s biggest prizes?
