It’s clearly not Syriana’s week in Hollywood.
Not only has Stephen Gaghan’s script been pipped by a last minute vote by Capote for the USC Scripter Award for adapted screenplay, it is also now no longer even adapted. At least, in the eyes of the Academy.
When the Oscar ballots- which are due in on Saturday, for any Oscar voters reading this – were sent out, Syriana’s status had been changed from adapted to original screenplay. It’s apparently not an unusual occurrence during Oscar season, and relies entirely on a decision made by the Academy’s writers’ branch. But the weird element was the fact that they made the change without informing either Warners, or Gaghan himself. According to the Academy, Gaghan's decision to veer away from his source and his own research mean that the script can no longer be classified as adapted.
Meanwhile, Capote’s screenwriter Dan Futterman and Gerald Clarke, who wrote the book that the script was based on, will attend a lavish ceremony at the University of Southern California to pick up the Scripter Award, the only prize-giving that awards both the screenplay and the source material.