'Borat,' 'Prada' Crack WGA Nomination Field

Zap2It.com | January 12, 2007

Sacha Baron Cohen, 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'

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Comedies and first-time nominees lead the pack

The screenwriters nominated for the Writers Guild of America may have worked on 10 very different films, but they all have one thing in common: They're all first-time invitees to the WGA party.

The WGA announced its feature screenwriting nominations on Thursday (Jan. 11), a group that includes most of the year's Oscar favorites.

In the eclectic original screenplay category, the nominees run the gamut from a docudrama depiction of an unspeakable tragedy (Paul Greengrass for "United 93") to a ruling monarch's reaction to tragedy (Peter Morgan of "The Queen") to a much more light-hearted take on tragedy (Michael Arndt of "Little Miss Sunshine"). Actually, tragedy also plays a role in Guillermo Arriaga's "Babel," while Zach Helm's "Stranger Than Fiction" takes a comic look at a semi-tragic life.

The adapted screenplay category features an even odder assortment of features, including "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," which lists Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer (story by Cohen, Hines, Baynham and Todd Phillips) as credited writers. They'll face off against the writers of "The Departed" (William Monahan), "The Devil Wears Prada" (Aline Brosh McKenna), "Little Children" (Todd Field and Tom Perrotta) and "Thank You For Smoking" (Jason Reitman).

Among the films obviously on the outside are the scripts for Bill Condon's "Dreamgirls" and Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima."

The Writers Guild prizes for film and television will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 11 in ceremonies held in New York and LA.