38th Annual Scripter Awards

Yesterday, December 15, the USC Libraries announced the finalists for the current edition of the awards that honor the writers of the year's most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations, as well as the writers of works on which they are based.

The USC Literary Achievement Award goes to author Michael Connelly for his contributions to the art of mystery storytelling, both on the page and on the screen.

The 2026 Scripter selection committee selected the finalists from a field of 43 film and 64 television adaptations. USC professor Howard Rodman, a former president of the Writers Guild of America, West, chairs the committee. Remember the award qualifications requires the written word as a source of inspiration for storytellers, only works adapted from books or book series, novellas, short stories, graphic novels, plays, or magazine articles are eligible.

On the film side, the Scripter Award has been a serious bellwther for the Oscars having predicted four out of five in the last few Best Adapted Screenplay award winners.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Peter Hujar's Day, a film that hasn't gain much track in the current award season. The other four are films that, up-to-this-moment, are having tremendous push -not necessarily only in this category- by film critics and awards.

The USC Libraries will announce the winning authors and screenwriters at a black-tie ceremony on Saturday, January 24, 2026, in the Town & Gown ballroom at the University of Southern California.

The Finalists Writers

Film Adaptation

Guillermo del Toro for Frankenstein
Based on the novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Chloe Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell for Hamnet
Based on O’Farrell’s novel of the same name

Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another
Inspired by the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

Ira Sachs for Peter Hujar’s Day
Based on the book of the same name by Linda Rosenkrantz

Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar for Train Dreams
Based on the novella of the same name by Denis Johnson

To read the finalists, including TV, go to official site here.