USC Scripter Awards Nominees Include ‘One Battle After Another’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Hamnet’ & ‘Slow Horses’

The writers behind the adapted screenplays of the films Frankenstein, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, Peter Hujar’s Day and Train Dreams have been nominated for the 38th annual Scripter Awards. This year’s TV nominees are the scribes and authors behind Dark Winds, Death by Lightning, Dept. Q, Slow Horses and Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.

See the full list below.

The awards, presented annually by the USC Libraries, honor the writers of the year’s most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations as well as the writers of the works on which they are based. The winners will be announced during a black-tie ceremony on Saturday, January 24, at the Town & Gown ballroom on the USC campus.

The 2026 Scripter film race — won last year by eventual Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner Peter Straughan‘s script for Conclave based on Robert Harris’ novel — has four nominees whose works were based on novels and one (Train Dreams) based on a novella.

Back in this year’s Scripters TV race is Apple TV’s British spy series Slow Horses from writer Will Smith and London Rules author Mick Herron. It won the honor in 2023 and again in 2024 but lost out in 2025 to Say Nothing, Hulu’s limited series about The Troubles. Creator Joshua Zetumer scripted that winning episode, “The People in the Dirt,” based on the book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe.

Author Michael Connelly will accept the USC Libraries Literary Achievement Award at the Scripter ceremony for his contributions to the art of mystery storytelling, both on the page and on the screen. His 41 novels introduced the world to LAPD detective Harry Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller and inspired screen adaptations, including Prime Video’s Bosch franchise and the 2011 feature The Lincoln Lawyer its subsequent Netflix TV series.

The 2025 Scripter selection committee, chaired by former WGA West President Howard Rodman, said Monday that it reviewed 43 film and 64 television adaptations in making its selections.

Here’s the full list of 2026 nominees:

Film

Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro
Based on the novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
Netflix and Penguin

Hamnet
Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell
Based on O’Farrell’s novel
Focus Features and Vintage Books

One Battle After Another
Paul Thomas Anderson
Based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

Peter Hujar’s Day
Ira Sachs
Based on the book by Linda Rosenkrantz

Train Dreams
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
Based on the novella Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

Television

Dark Winds, “Ábidoo’niidę́ę́ (What He Had Been Told)” episode
Max Hurwitz and Billy Luther
Based on the novels Dancehall of the Dead and The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman
AMC and Harper

Death by Lightning, “Destiny of the Republic” episode
Based on Candice Millard’s nonfiction book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President
Netflix and Anchor

Dept. Q, untitled first episode
Chandni Lakhani and Scott Frank
Based on the novel The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Netflix and Penguin

Slow Horses, “Scars” episode
Will Smith
Based on the novel London Rules by Mick Herron
Apple TV and Soho Crime

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, full series
Peter Straughan
Based on the novel The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel