‘Moonlight’, ‘La La Land’, Manchester by the Sea’, ‘Deadpool’ top WGA nominations

The awards season is up and by this time we have the idea of how the scenario is shaping up. A surprising development surfaced after Paul Wernick and Rhett Rees's script "Deadpool" was nominated for top adapted screenplay. The Oscar favorites "Moonlight", "La La Land" and "Manchester by the Sea" also made their writers be nominated for the Writers Guild Awards.

According to USAToday, Writers Guild of America announced its nominees for the best screenplays of the year with selections which were largely limited to the awards season regulars. The best original screenplay nominees were Kenneth Lonergan's script for "Manchester By The Sea", Barry Jenkin's "Moonlight" and Damien Chazalle's "La La Land." Adding on to this list was Taylor Sheridan's "Hell or High Water" and Jeff Nicols' "Loving."

Documentary nominations went off to Jeff Feurerzeig for "Author: The JT LeRoy Story", Eric Schlosser and Robert Kenner for "Command and Control" and Alex Gibney for "Zero Days." For the most part, WGA nominations have been as expected. But the inclusion of "Deadpool" has come up with a surprise. WGA voters have supported superhero script in the past also. James Gunn and Nicole Perlman received a nomination for "Guardians of the Galaxy" in 2015.

Here are the nominations for 2017 WGA awards:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY NOMINEES:

"Hell or High Water," Written by Taylor Sheridan; CBS Films

"La La Land," Written by Damien Chazelle; Lionsgate

"Loving," Written by Jeff Nichols; Focus Features

"Manchester by the Sea," Written by Kenneth Lonergan; Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions

"Moonlight," Written by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell McCraney; A24

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

"Arrival," Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the Story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang; Paramount Pictures

"Deadpool," Written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick; Based on the X-Men Comic Books; Twentieth Century Fox Film

"Fences," Screenplay by August Wilson; Based on his Play; Paramount Pictures

"Hidden Figures," Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi; Based on the Book by Margot Lee Shetterly; Twentieth Century Fox Film

"Nocturnal Animals," Screenplay by Tom Ford; Based on the Novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright; Focus Features

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

"Author: The JT LeRoy Story," Written by Jeff Feuerzeig; Amazon Studios

"Command and Control," Telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, Story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; Based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser; American Experience Films

"Zero Days," Written by Alex Gibney; Magnolia Pictures