The Writers Guild of America, because of their notoriously stringent nominations guidelines (non-guild signatories are completely ineligible, so foreign films, animated films, and smaller independents tend to be out of their race). This has created some suspense going into Oscar night as some of the Oscar frontrunners (like The Favourite this year) weren’t eligible to be nominated here, which will give the winners a small boost, but won’t necessarily be instructive.

WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA AWARDS

Best Original Screenplay

Eighth Grade
Green Book (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, RU:Thomas)
A Quiet Place (RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)
Roma
Vice (Thomas, RU:Wesley)

Wesley Lovell: With The Favourite out of the race, it’s anyone’s guess what will win. Vice is the more compelling script, A Quiet Place is the more original, and Green Book is the safest. Any one of them could win, but anyone other than Green Book winning would be a modest surprise.
Peter J. Patrick: Green Book has the snappy dialogue whereas A Quiet Place has practically none, but both screenplays convey what they have to.
Tripp Burton: Can A Quiet Place win another surprise award like at the SAGs? Or will Green Book win another award, post-controversy? Or will Alfonso Cuaron or Adam McKay, or even DGA surprise winner Bo Burnham win here? I wouldn’t be shocked to see any of them.
Thomas LaTourette: There may be enough of a backlash against Green Book for Vice to win.

Best Adapted Screenplay

BlacKkKlansman (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Black Panther
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (RU:Peter)
If Beale Street Could Talk (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
A Star Is Born

Wesley Lovell: This lineup is almost exactly what the Oscars have and I think the same trend will apply here. Either Spike Lee wins a career Oscar for BlacKkKlansmanIf Beale Street Could Talk.
Peter J. Patrick: Spike Lee should take this one easily for BlackKklansman with Can You Ever Forgive Me? and If Beale Street Could Talk vying for second place.
Tripp Burton: This seems like the only place anyone wants to award poor spike Lee.
Thomas LaTourette: It feels like the tide is turning in favor of BlacKkKlansman over either Beale Street or Can You Ever Forgive Me? so I expect it to be the winner.

Documentary Screenplay

Bathtubs Over Broadway (Thomas)
Fahrenheit 11/9 (Wesley)
Generation Wealth (Peter, Tripp, RU:Wesley)
In Search of Greatness (RU:Peter, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: You could throw a dart at the wall and have a better chance of randomly hitting the winner than predicting it.
Peter J. Patrick: I have no idea about this category this year. Any one of the nominees could pop. I’ll go with Generation Wealth to win and In Search of Greatness to place.
Tripp Burton: I see a lot of documentaries, but I haven’t seen any of these, so this is pure guess work. I’m guessing it’s not Michael Moore, though.
Thomas LaTourette: Bathtubs Over Broadway sounds like the most interesting and well received of the bunch, so I will predict it to win.