Writers Guild Nods: Round Up the Unusual Suspects

Screenplays for “American Beauty,” “The Sixth Sense,” “The Cider House Rules” and “The Insider” are among the nominees for the Writers Guild of America Awards for films announced by the WGA Wednesday.

The nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during 1999 are divided into two categories: best screenplay written directly for the screen and best screenplay based on material previously produced or published.

Nominees for best screenplay written directly for the screen are: “American Beauty,” written by Alan Ball; “Being John Malkovich,” written by Charlie Kaufman; “Magnolia,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson; “The Sixth Sense,” written by M. Night Shyamalan; and “The Three Kings,” screenplay by David O. Russell, story by John Ridley.

Last month, Ball received a Golden Globe for his darkly satirical screenplay and Kaufman received the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and the National Society of Film Critics honors for his funny, quirky examination of people’s quest for fame. These are the first produced screenplays written by Ball and Kaufman, who had previously worked on TV sitcoms.

Kaufman says when he wrote the script he had no expectations that the real John Malkovich would even read it, much less co-star in the film. He really can’t explain why he chose the actor as the subject of the movie.

“I have never had a good answer,” he says. “It was a kind of institutive thing. I felt he was the right person. It was a funny idea, but it wasn’t a jokey idea because he is such a great and mysterious actor.”

Nominees for best screenplay based on material previously published are:

“The Cider House Rules,” screenplay by John Irving, based on his novel; “Election,” screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta; “The Insider,” written by Eric Roth and Michael Mann, based on the article “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” by Marie Brenner; “October Sky,” screenplay by Lewis Colick, based on the book “Rocket Boys,” by Homer H. Hickam Jr.; and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” screenplay by Anthony Minghella, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith.

Colick, who also wrote “Ghosts of Mississippi” and “Unlawful Entry,” was “stunned beyond reason” when he got news he was nominated for “October Sky,” a small, intimate drama about a teenage boy living in a coal mining town in the late ‘50s who dreams of designing rocket engines.

“I think ‘October Sky’ is one of the best pictures of the year,” says Colick, who won a Humanitas Prize for his screenplay. “Because we came out so early we have been totally forgotten. I always believed in my heart the Writers Guild would not forget us.”

Colick says he knew “October Sky” was a special project, even though he worried that it might not get produced because there were no roles for big stars. “You knew that you were never going to have a movie star because there were no movie star roles,” he says.

Winners of the WGA Awards will be announced March 5 at the 52nd Annual Writers Guild of America ceremonies on both coasts.