BRIGHT STAR Not Original Screenplay, But Adapted Says AMPAS

Steve Pond over at The Wrap has once again broke Oscar news with his story on  another ruling made by those wacky kids over at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, better known as AMPAS.  The Writers Branch, of said group,  has erroneously decided that Jane Campion’s script for BRIGHT  STAR is an  adapted screenplay and has thus  taken it out of  the original screenplay category. For Shame! I truly loved  Campion’s film and this seems to be the final nail in any hopes for an Oscar.

Pond correctly writes:

Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” has no chance of winning an Oscar nomination in the original-screenplay category. Apparition was reportedly informed of the decision after the company had already taken out ads promoting the film in the original-screenplay category.

Campion was inspired to write the film both by Keats’ poetry and by a biography of the poet by Andrew Motion. The film’s story is told from the point of view of Brawne, of whom very few records survive; her character was largely invented by Campion, as were the details of the relationship between the two.

Although Campion makes use of Keats’ poetry and letters, the writer-director did not adapt any existing material, because there is none that tells the story of Keats and Brawne in any depth.

Pond further states:

But an executive committee of the writers branch determined that the film should be considered an adaptation, and included it as such on the “Reminder List” of eligible screenplays that accompanied nomination ballots.

The original-screenplay category has more contending films, 153 as opposed to 106 adaptations. As usual, though, the competition is stronger in the adapted-screenplay category, meaning it’ll be harder for “Bright Star” to break into a field whose frontrunners include “Up in the Air,” “An Education,” “Precious,” “Julie & Julia,” “A Single Man,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “District 9.”

Prime contenders in the original-screenplay category include “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “A Serious Man,” “(500) Days of Summer” and “Up.”

The Academy’s writers branch is known for taking a hard line on what constitutes an original screenplay, but in the past it has classified as original a number of films based on real characters (and thus drawing from various pre-existing sources). These include “Milk,” “The Queen” and “The Aviator.”

Click here for  the list of the adapted and original screenplays that are certified Academy-fresh.

Source: The Odds