Special Correspondent Dong Ming
Last year’s summer film “Barbie” was not only a hit at the box office, but also became a hit during this year’s awards season for its outstanding creativity. However, the American "Variety" said on the 3rd that "Barbie" was classified as "Best Adapted Screenplay" by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which means that the film can only compete in this category next, rather than "Best Original Screenplay" "Oscar statuette.
According to the Oscar selection process, the American Film Academy will officially start voting on the 11th of this month, and "Barbie" written by directors Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach will not appear in the original screenplay category. , Academy judges can only vote for it in adapted screenplays. However, in the view of the Writers Guild of America, this film is an "original screenwriter" and will also compete for the Writers Guild's "Original Screenplay Award" and will not be affected by the Oscars.
During the Hollywood awards season, the selection rules of various award agencies and awards organizations are not exactly the same. Different awards also have different standards regarding whether a film's script is original or adapted. The Oscars will consider "movies that use existing characters" as adaptations. For example, "Toy Story 3", "Borat 2", "At Sunset" and "Before Midnight" have been classified as adaptations. Similarly, Barbie was Mattel's best-selling toy for many years before it hit the big screen. This is the main reason why the American Film Institute classified it as an adapted screenplay.
In the history of Hollywood movies, 2016's "Moonlight" also encountered similar controversy - because its script was never published, the Writers Guild of America regarded it as "original", but the Oscars still considered it an "adaptation". In addition, films such as 2005's "Cyrena", 2015's "Loving" and 2018's "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" have also encountered script qualitative issues.
However, in the eyes of industry insiders and fans, although "Barbie" is based on Barbie's IP, the "husband and wife team" of Gerwig and Mbach are the biggest script contributors to the film's popularity. The former has adapted the script "Little Women" and the original screenplay "Lady Bird"; the latter also has masterpieces such as "The Squid and the Whale" and "Marriage Story" that were nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Once "Barbie" is excluded from the original screenplay category by the Oscars, this will undoubtedly be good news for competitors such as "The Past" and "Stay in School", and in the British Academy Film Awards, where the shortlist will be announced on the 5th, " Barbie" was recognized as an "original work." ▲
