Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
The 2026 recipient: Paul Thomas Anderson
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Country	United States
First awarded	1929
Currently held by	Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another (2025)

The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is a special prize given out at the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. It honors the best movie script that was inspired by something already created. This could be a book, a play, a musical, a short story, a TV show, or even characters from another movie. Even sequels, which continue a story, count as adaptations! This award has been part of the Oscars since the very beginning. It used to have a longer name: the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium.

Amazing Achievements in Adapted Screenplays

This section highlights some of the most interesting facts and records about the writers who have won or been nominated for this special award.

Writers with Multiple Wins

Many talented writers have won this award more than once! Joseph L. Mankiewicz was the first to win twice, in 1949 and 1950. Other writers who have won two times include George Seaton, Robert Bolt, Francis Ford Coppola, and Mario Puzo. Michael Wilson also won twice, even though he faced difficulties in Hollywood at the time of his second win. The Academy later officially recognized his achievement.

Winning for Original and Adapted Stories

Some amazing writers, like Billy Wilder and Francis Ford Coppola, have won Oscars for both original stories and adapted screenplays. This shows their incredible skill in creating different kinds of movie scripts.

First Women and Couples to Win

Frances Marion was the first woman to win an Oscar in any writing category. Later, Sarah Y. Mason became the first woman to win specifically for an adapted screenplay. She shared the award with her husband, Victor Heerman. Another famous married couple, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, also won together for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Adapting Your Own Work

Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney were the first to win an Oscar for adapting their own stories into a movie. This means they wrote the original material and then turned it into a screenplay.

Winning Siblings

The Epstein brothers, Philip G. Epstein and Julius J. Epstein, were the first siblings to win this award for Casablanca. Later, the Goldman brothers, James Goldman and William Goldman, won for different films. The famous Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, also won together for No Country for Old Men.

Authors Whose Work Won Twice

Some authors have seen their books win this award multiple times. Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather led to two Oscar wins. Similarly, two novels by E. M. Forster were adapted into winning screenplays by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

Unique Adaptation Record

Larry McMurtry has a unique record: he won for adapting another writer's story, and his own book was also adapted into an Oscar-winning film by someone else!

Adapting Other Movies

Only a few writers, like William Monahan for The Departed and Sian Heder for CODA, have won this award for adapting an existing movie into a new screenplay.

African-American Winners

Geoffrey S. Fletcher was the first African-American writer to win an Oscar in any writing category, for Precious. Other African-American winners in this category include John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave and Cord Jefferson for American Fiction. Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney were the first African-American writing team to win, for Moonlight.

Oldest and Youngest Winners

The oldest winner of this award is James Ivory, who was 89 years old when he won for Call Me by Your Name. The youngest winner is Charlie Wachtel, who was 32 when he won for BlacKkKlansman.

Māori Winner

Taika Waititi, from the Māori community, was the first person of Māori descent to win this award, for Jojo Rabbit.

Winners Who Also Acted

Emma Thompson is the only person who has won this writing award and also an Oscar for acting. Some other winners, like Billy Bob Thornton and John Huston, were nominated for acting too.

Films Not Nominated for Best Picture

Interestingly, a few films that won this writing award, like Sling Blade, were not nominated for the top prize of Best Picture.

Notable Nominees and Their Stories

Many famous writers, including novelists and playwrights, have been nominated for this award. These include well-known names like George Bernard Shaw and Tennessee Williams. Animated films like Shrek and Toy Story 3 have also received nominations for their adapted screenplays. Even movies based on superhero comic books, such as Logan, have been recognized in this category.

Multiple Wins and Nominations

Age Superlatives

Images for kids

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  Howard Estabrook won for Cimarron (1931).

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  Victor Heerman co-won for Little Women (1933).

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  Sarah Y. Mason co-won for Little Women (1933).

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  Robert Riskin won for It Happened One Night (1934).

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  Pierre Collings co-won for The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936).

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  Sidney Howard won the award after his death for Gone with the Wind (1939).

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  George Froeschel co-won for Mrs. Miniver (1942).

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  Julius J. Epstein co-won for Casablanca (1943).

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  Charles Brackett co-won for The Lost Weekend (1945).

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  Billy Wilder co-won for The Lost Weekend (1945).

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  Robert E. Sherwood won for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

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  John Huston won for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

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  Joseph L. Mankiewicz won the award two years in a row, first for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and then for All About Eve (1950).

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  Paddy Chayefsky won for Marty (1955).

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  John Farrow co-won for Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

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  S. J. Perelman co-won for Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

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  Carl Foreman co-won for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).

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  Alan Jay Lerner won for Gigi (1958).

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  Richard Brooks won for Elmer Gantry (1960).

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  Ring Lardner Jr. won for M*A*S*H (1970).

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  Francis Ford Coppola co-won the award twice, first for The Godfather (1972) and then for The Godfather Part II (1974).

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  Mario Puzo co-won the award twice, first for The Godfather (1972) and then for The Godfather Part II (1974).

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  William Peter Blatty won for The Exorcist (1973), an adaptation of his novel of the same name.

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  Bo Goldman co-won for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).

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  William Goldman won for All the President's Men (1976).

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  Alvin Sargent won the award twice, first for Julia (1977) and then for Ordinary People (1980).

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  Oliver Stone won for Midnight Express (1978).

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  Ernest Thompson won for On Golden Pond (1981), an adaptation of his play of the same name.

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  Costa-Gavras co-won for Missing (1982).

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  Donald E. Stewart co-won for Missing (1982).

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  James L. Brooks won for Terms of Endearment (1983).

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  Peter Shaffer won for Amadeus (1984).

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  Ruth Prawer Jhabvala won the award twice, first for A Room with a View (1986) and then for Howards End (1992).

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  Bernardo Bertolucci co-won for The Last Emperor (1987).

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  Christopher Hampton won the award twice, first as a solo writer for Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and then as a co-writer for The Father (2020).

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  Alfred Uhry won for Driving Miss Daisy (1989), an adaptation of his play of the same name.

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  Michael Blake won for Dances with Wolves (1990), an adaptation of his novel of the same name.

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  Emma Thompson won for Sense and Sensibility (1995).

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  Billy Bob Thornton won for Sling Blade (1996).

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  Curtis Hanson co-won for L.A. Confidential (1997).

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  Brian Helgeland co-won for L.A. Confidential (1997).

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  John Irving won for The Cider House Rules (1999), an adaptation of his novel of the same name.

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  Stephen Gaghan won for Traffic (2000).

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  Akiva Goldsman won for A Beautiful Mind (2001).

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  Philippa Boyens co-won for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

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  Peter Jackson co-won for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

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  Fran Walsh co-won for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

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  Alexander Payne co-won the award twice, first for Sideways (2004) and then for The Descendants (2011).

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  Larry McMurtry co-won for Brokeback Mountain (2005).

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  William Monahan won for The Departed (2006).

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  The Coen brothers won for No Country for Old Men (2007).

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  Geoffrey S. Fletcher won for Precious (2009); first Black winner in this category.

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  Aaron Sorkin won for The Social Network (2010).

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  Nat Faxon co-won for The Descendants (2011).

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  Jim Rash co-won for The Descendants (2011).

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  John Ridley won for 12 Years a Slave (2013).

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  Graham Moore won for The Imitation Game (2014).

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  Adam McKay co-won for The Big Short (2015).

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  Barry Jenkins co-won for Moonlight (2016).

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  Tarell Alvin McCraney co-won for Moonlight (2016).

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  James Ivory co-won for Call Me by Your Name (2017).

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  Spike Lee co-won for BlacKkKlansman (2018).

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  Taika Waititi won for Jojo Rabbit (2019).

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  Florian Zeller co-won for The Father (2020), an adaptation of his play of the same name.

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  Sian Heder won for CODA (2021).

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  Sarah Polley won for Women Talking (2022).

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar al mejor guion adaptado para niños

• Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
• BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Screenplay
• List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of Academy Award–nominated films
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay