‘Descendants,’ ‘Moneyball’ among Scripter Award finalists

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The screenwriters of ‘A Dangerous Method,’ ‘The Descendants,’ ‘Jane Eyre,’ ‘Moneyball’ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ -- as well as the authors of the works each is based on -- are the five finalists for the 24th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award. The announcement was made Thursday morning.

Screenwriter Christopher Hampton is a finalist for ‘A Dangerous Method,’ adapted from the nonfiction book ‘A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud and Sabina Spielrein’ by John Kerr and the 2002 play ‘The Talking Cure’ by Hampton.

Alexander Pyne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash were nominated for ‘The Descendants’ screenplay, adapted from the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, which was an expansion of her short story ‘The Minor Wars.’

Screenwriter Moira Buffini is a finalist for ‘Jane Eyre,’ an adaptation of the 1847 classic novel by Charlotte Bronte.

Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chevrin are finalists for their ‘Moneyball’ screenplay, which was adapted from the book ‘Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game’ by Michael Lewis.

Rounding out the finalists are screenwriters Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan for ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,’ adapted from John le Carre’s spy novel of the same name.

The Scripter Award was created by the Friends of the USC Libraries in 1988 and honors the screenwriters of the ‘year’s most accomplished cinematic adaptation as well as the authors of the written work on which the screenplay is based.’

Last year, Sorkin won the Script Award for his adaptation of ‘The Social Network.’

The Scripter selection committee chose the five finalists from 109 eligible films. The 32-member selection committee includes Times film critic Kenneth Turan.

Paul Haggis, who won the Scripter for the 2004 drama ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ is this year’s recipient of the USC Scripter Literary Achievement Award.

The awards will be handed out Feb. 18 at the Times Reference Room of USC’s Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library.

RELATED:

20th WGA Award nod for Woody Allen

‘The Artist,’ ‘The Tree of Life’ among ASC cinematography nominees

--Susan King