The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards, focused specifically for film. The Writers Guild of America began making the distinction between an original screenplay and an adapted screenplay in 1970, when Waldo Salt, screenwriter for Midnight Cowboy, won for "Best Adapted Drama" and Arnold Schulman won "Best Adapted Comedy" for his screenplay of Goodbye, Columbus. Separate awards for dramas and comedies continued until 1984.
Winners and nominees
† indicates an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay winner
1960s YearFilmRecipient(s)Source material 1969Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Midnight Cowboy † Waldo Salt The novel by James Leo HerlihyAnne of the Thousand DaysJohn Hale, and Bridget Boland The play by Maxwell AndersonThe Prime of Miss Jean BrodieJay Presson Allen The novel by Muriel SparkThey Shoot Horses, Don't They?James Poe, and Robert E. Thompson The novel by Horace McCoyTrue GritMarguerite Roberts The novel by Charles Portis Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Goodbye, Columbus Arnold Schulman The novella by Philip RothCactus FlowerI.A.L. Diamond The play by Abe BurrowsGaily, GailyAbram S. Ginnes The memoir by Ben HechtJohn and MartyJohn Mortimer The novel by Mervyn JonesThe ReiversIrving Ravetch, and Harriet Frank Jr. The novel The Reivers: A Reminiscence by William Faulkner
1970s YearFilmRecipient(s)Source material 1970Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium I Never Sang for My Father Robert Anderson The play by Robert AndersonAirportGeorge Seaton The novel by Arthur HaileyCatch-22Buck Henry The novel by Joseph HellerThe Great White HopeHoward SacklerThe play by Howard SacklerLittle Big ManCalder Willingham The novel by Thomas Berger Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium M*A*S*H † Ring Lardner Jr. The novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard HookerLovers and Other StrangersRenée Taylor, Joseph Bologna, David Zelag GoodmanThe play by Renée Taylor and Joseph BolognaThe Owl and the PussycatBuck Henry The play by Bill ManhoffThe Twelve ChairsMel Brooks The novel by Ilf and PetrovWhere's PoppaRobert Klane The novel by Robert Klane 1971Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium The French Connection † Ernest Tidyman The book by Robin MooreA Clockwork OrangeStanley Kubrick The novel by Anthony BurgessJohnny Got His GunDalton Trumbo The novel by Dalton TrumboThe Last Picture ShowLarry McMurtry, and Peter Bodganovich The novel by Larry McMurtryMcCabe & Mrs. MillerRobert Altman, and Brian McKay The novel McCabe by Edmund Naughton Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Kotch John Paxton The novel by Katharine TopkinsThe Boy FriendKen Russell The musical by Sandy WilsonFiddler on the RoofJoseph Stein The musical by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Joseph Stein and the novel by Sholem AleichemLittle MurdersJules Feiffer The play by Jules FeifferA New LeafElaine May The short story "The Green Heart" by Jack Ritchie 1972Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium The Godfather † Mario Puzo, and Francis Ford Coppola The novel by Mario PuzoDeliveranceJames Dickey The novel by James DickeyPete 'n' TillieJulius J. Epstein The novella Witch's Milk by Peter De VriesSlaughterhouse-FiveStephen Geller The novel by Kurt VonnegutSounderLonne Elder III The novel by William H. Armstrong Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Cabaret Jay Presson Allen The musical by John Van Druten and the book by Joe MasteroffAvanti!Billy Wilder, and I.A.L. DiamondThe play by Samuel A. TaylorButterflies Are FreeLeonard GersheThe play by Leonard GersheThe Heartbreak KidNeil SimonThe short story "A Change of Plan" by Bruce Jay FriedmanTravels with My AuntJay Presson Allen, and Hugh WheelerThe novel by Graham Greene 1973Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Serpico Waldo Salt, and Norman Wexler The book by Peter MaasCinderella LibertyDarryl PonicsanThe novel by Darryl PonicsanThe Exorcist †William Peter BlattyThe novel by William Peter BlattyThe Last DetailRobert Towne The novel by Darryl PonicsanThe Paper ChaseJames BridgesThe novel by John Jay Osborn Jr. Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Paper Moon Alvin Sargent The novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown40 CaratsLeonard Gershe The play by Jay Presson Allen based on the play Quarante carats by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre GredyGodspellDavid Greenne, and John-Michael TebelakThe musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak 1974Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium The Godfather Part II † Francis Ford Coppola, and Mario Puzo The novel The Godfather by Mario PuzoConrackIrving Ravetch, and Harriet Frank Jr. The memoir The Water Is Wide by Pat ConroyLennyJulian Barry The play by Julian BarryThe Parallax ViewDavid Giler and Lorenzo Sempler Jr. The novel by Loren SingerThe Talking of Pelham One Two ThreePeter Stone The novel by John Godey Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Mordecai Richler, and Lionel Chetwynd The novel by Mordecai RichlerThe Front PageBilly Wilder, and I.A.L. Diamond The comedy by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthurYoung FrankensteinGene Wilder, and Mel Brooks The characters on the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 1975Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest † Lawrence Hauben, and Bo Goldman The novel by Ken KeseyBarry LyndonStanley Kubrick The novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace ThackerayJawsPeter Benchley, and Carl Gottlieb The novel by Peter BenchleyThe Man in the Glass BoothEdward Anhalt The novel and play by Robert ShawThe Man Who Would Be KingJohn Huston, and Gladys Hill The novella by Rudyard Kipling Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium The Sunshine Boys Neil Simon The play by Neil SimonHester StreetJoan Micklin Silver The novella Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto by Abraham CahanThe Prisoner of Second AvenueNeil Simon The play by Neil Simon 1976Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium All the President's Men † William Goldman The book by Carl Bernstein and Bob WoodwardBound for GloryRobert Getchell The book by Woody GuthrieMarathon ManWilliam Goldman The novel by William GoldmanThe Seven-Per-Cent SolutionNicholas Meyer The novel by Nicholas MeyerThe ShootistMiles Hood Swarthout, and Scott HaleThe novel by Glendon Swarthout Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium The Pink Panther Strikes Again Frank Waldman, and Blake Edwards The film series The Pink PantherThe Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor KingsHal Barwood, and Matthew Robbins The novel by William BrashlerFamily PlotErnest Lehman The novel The Rainbird Pattern by Victor CanningThe RitzTerrence McNally The play by Terrence McNallyStay HungryCharles Gaines, and Bob Rafelson The novel by Charles Gaines 1977Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Julia † Alvin Sargent A chapter from the book Pentimento by Lillian HellmanI Never Promised You a Rose GardenGavin Lambert, and Lewis John Carlino The novel by Joanne GreenbergIslands in the StreamDenne Bart PetitclercThe novel by Ernest HemingwayLooking for Mr. GoodbarRichard Brooks The novel by Judith Rossner Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Oh, God! Larry Gelbart The novel by Avery CormanSemi-ToughWalter Bernstein The novel by Dan JenkinsThe Spy Who Loved MeChristopher Wood, and Richard Maibaum The characters by Ian Fleming 1978Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Midnight Express † Oliver Stone The book by Billy HayesBloodbrothersWalter Newman The novel by Richard PriceGo Tell the SpartansWendell Mayes The novel Incident at Muc Wa by Daniel FordInvasion of the Body SnatchersW.D. Richter The novel The Body Snatchers by Jack FinneyWho'll Stop the RainJudith Rascoe, and Robert Stone The novel Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Heaven Can Wait Elaine May, and Warren Beatty The play by Harry SegallCalifornia SuiteNeil Simon The play by Neil SimonSame Time, Next YearBernard Slade The play by Bernard SladeSupermanMario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, and Robert Benton The character Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe ShusterWho Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?Peter Stone The novel by Nan Lyons and Ivan Lyons 1979Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Kramer vs. Kramer † Robert Benton The novel by Avery CormanNorma RaeIrving Ravetch, and Harriet Frank Jr. The book Crystal Lee, a Woman of Inheritance by Henry P. Leifermann Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium Being There Jerzy Kosinski The novel by Jerzy KosinskiA Little RomanceAllan Burns The novel E=mc2 Mon Amour by Patrick CauvinStarting OverJames L. Brooks The novel by Dan Wakefield
1980s