Banshees of Inisherin writer Martin McDonagh noticeably absent from top WGA screenplay nominations

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

Martin McDonagh, the man behind the nine-time Oscar nominated comedy The Banshees of Inisherin, was noticeably absent from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) list for Best Original Screenplay.

The British-Irish director’s main award season rivals Steven Spielberg, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and Todd Field all secured nods in the top WGA category.

It comes after all five directors were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay on Tuesday (24 January), along with Triangle of Sadness writer Ruben Ostlund.

Spielberg was nominated for the WGA Best Original Screenplay for The Fabelmans, while Field earned a nod for Tár, and Kwan and Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

McDonagh’s The Banshees Of Inisherin has already won the Golden Globe award for Best Screenplay and was also nominated in the equivalent category for at the Critics Choice Awards (CCA). The film, however, was snubbed on Wednesday by the WGA.

Surprise contenders for the WGA Best Original Screenplay were The Menu, written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy; and Jordan Peele’s Nope.

Neither film’s screenplay was nominated at the Golden Globes or the CCA.

Snubs also came for nine-time Oscar-nominated German film All Quiet on the Western Front, and Bill Nighy-starrer Living, neither of which featured in the WGA’s Best Adapted Screenplay category.

Blockbuster sequels Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Top Gun: Maverick, all received nominations in the category.

Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, starring Frances McDormand, Claire Foy and Ben Whishaw also earned a nod, as well as She Said, written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie.

In the WGA television categories, Quinta Brunson’s Abbott Elementary picked up nominations for both Best Comedy Series and New Series, as did The Bear.

The Crown was nominated for Best Drama Series, and Sharon Horgan’s Bad Sisters also earned a nomination in the WGA Best New Series category.

Winners of the 75th annual Writers Guild of America awards will be announced on Sunday 5 March.

See all the 2023 Oscar nominations, announced earlier this week, here.

Additional reporting by Press Association