2025 WGA Awards ballot: ‘Sing Sing,’ ‘The Substance,’ ‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘Conclave’ among ineligible scripts

Some of the year’s top screenplays are not eligible for consideration at the 2025 Writers Guild of America Awards, the group’s voting ballot revealed on Monday.

Among the awards contenders for Best Adapted Screenplay that won’t receive nominations from the WGA despite being in the thick of the Oscar race are Conclave (by Peter Straughan), Emilia Pérez (by Jacques Audiard), I’m Still Here (by Walter Salles), Inside Out 2 (by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein with a story by LeFauve and Kesley Mann), The Outrun (by Nora Fingscheidt and Amy Liptrot), The Room Next Door (by Pedro Almodovar), Sing Sing (by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar), and The Wild Robot (by Chris Sanders).

Several Best Original Screenplay hopefuls are also off the WGA ballot, including All We Imagine as Light (by Payal Kapadia), The Brutalist (by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold), Didi (by Sean Wang), A Different Man (by Aaron Schimberg), Hard Truths (by Mike Leigh), His Three Daughters (by Azazel Jacobs), I Saw the TV Glow (by Jane Schoenbrun), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (by Mohammad Rasoulof). September 5 (by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, and Alex David), and The Substance (by Coralie Fargeat).

In the current Gold Derby odds, three of the top five Oscar contenders for adapted screenplay (Conclave, Sing Sing, and Emilia Perez) are ineligible – as are the sixth and seventh-place films (The Room Next Door and I’m Still Here). In terms of winning at the WGA Awards, that is likely good news for eligible films such as Nickel Boys, Dune: Part Two, Wicked, The Piano Lesson, and A Complete Unknown.

On the original end of the spectrum, five of the top seven Best Original Screenplay Oscar contenders are ineligible – in order, The Brutalist, The Substance, Hard Truths, September 5, and The Seed of the Sacred Fig. But top contender Anora, as well as A Real Pain (No. 3 in the odds), and Challengers (no. 8 in the odds) are eligible for WGA nominations.

The WGA Awards often exclude several top films due to eligibility rules. If a film is produced outside the WGA collective bargaining agreement or written by a non-union member, it is not eligible for the guild’s awards.

The 2025 WGA Awards nominations will be announced on Jan. 9, 2025. The winners’ ceremony takes place on Feb. 15, 2025.

Correction: This post originally listed Gladiator II as ineligible but the screenplay by David Scarpa is on the ballot for adapted screenplay.