Judas and the Black Messiah, Borat, and more pick up Writers Guild Awards nominations

Judas and the Black Messiah and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm are among the films that just earned key screenplay recognition amid the race to the 2021 Oscars.

The film nominations for the 2021 Writers Guild Awards were announced on Tuesday, and in the category of Original Screenplay, the nominees were Judas and the Black Messiah, Palm Springs, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Meanwhile, the Adapted Screenplay nominees were Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, News of the World, One Night in Miami, and The White Tiger.

Also scoring nominations in the Documentary Screenplay category were All In: The Fight for Democracy, The Dissident, Herb Alpert Is..., Red Penguins, and Totally Under Control. Amazon picked up four nominations, while Netflix scored three, The Hollywood Reporter notes.

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Last year, the two top WGA winners, Parasite and Jojo Rabbit, both ultimately won a screenplay Oscar, and so although the two shows don't always line up, Tuesday's nominees received a boost in momentum. But Variety notes that some Oscar contenders this year weren't actually eligible at the Writers Guild Awards, including Nomadland and Mank, while among the movies that were snubbed despite being eligible were I'm Thinking of Ending Things and First Cow.

Nomadland is considered the frontrunner to win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay at the moment, while The Trial of the Chicago 7 is favored for Best Original Screenplay, Gold Derby says. The 2021 Writers Guild Awards are set for March 21, while the Oscar nominations will be revealed on March 15.