Books Rule the Oscar Noms
In terms of Oscar nominations, the force is not with Star Wars, which only received nominations in technical categories, but it is with book adaptations. Of the eight nominees for Best Picture, five are based on books, and one other, Spotlight, has a book connection. It is about the Boston Globe‘s Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles, which were released in 2003 in book form, and re-released as a tie-in. UPDATE; There is one more book connection. Although Bridge of Spies is “an original screenplay and not based on any underlying source material,” there are books about the story, including the 1964 memoir by James B. Donovan, played by Tom Hanks in the move, Strangers on a Bridge, republished last year by S&S/Scribner and Bridge of Spies by Giles Whittell, (PRH/Broadway, 2010)
Oscar Nominees — Adaptations (technical nominations not listed)
The Revenant – Best Picture, Director (Alejandro G. Iñárritu), Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Supporting Actor (Tom Hardy)
Won Golden Globe Awards for Drama and Best Actor in a Drama on Sunday. The movie has made a best-seller of the book originally released to middling success in 2002 It is currently at #2 NYT Paperback Trade Fiction Best Sellers list.
Tie-in: The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke (Macmillian/Picador).
—
The Martian — Best Picture, Actor (Matt Damon), Adapted Screenplay
Won Golden Globes for Best Musical or Comedy as well as Best Actor, Musical or Comedy (if you are scratching your head over that designation, you are not alone). The paperback is currently #1 on the NYT Paperback Trade Fiction and #2 on the Paperback Mass-Market Fiction Best Sellers lists.
The Martian, Andy Weir, (PRH/Broadway; mass market pbk)
—-
The Big Short — Best Picture, Director (Adam McKay), Supporting Actor (Christian Bale), Adapted ScreenplayTie-in: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Michael Lewis, (Norton)
Currently at #1 on the NYT Paperback Nonfiction Best Sellers list.
—-
Brooklyn — Best Picture, Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Adapted Screenplay
Tie-in, currently at #3 on NYT Paperback Trade Fiction Best Sellers list:
Brooklyn, Colm Toibin. (S&S/Scribner)
—-
Room — Best Picture, Director (Lenny Abrahamson), Actress (Brie Larson), Adapted Screenplay
Larson won a Golden Globe for Best Actress, Drama
Tie-ins: Room: A Novel, (Hachette/Back Bay), Mass Market, Audio CD
—-
Carol — Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara), Adapted Screenplay; based on Patricia Highsmith’s The Price Of Salt, 1952.
Tie-in: Carol, Patricia Highsmith, (Norton)
Publisher Norton has created a clever recommendation web site, Choose Your Highsmith, which also features a video of several authors, including Alison Bechdel, expressing their enthusiasm for Highsmith.
—
45 Years — Best Actress Charlotte Rampling
The movie is based on is in the lead story in the collection, In Another Country, (Biblioasis, June, 2015).
—-
Steve Jobs — Best Supporting Actress (Kate Winslet), Actor (Michael Fassbender)
Winslet won a Golden Globe for Supporting Actress.
No tie-in, but the book was released in trade paperback around the time of the movie, (with the younger Jobs on the cover):
Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson, (Simon & Schuster)
—-
The Danish Girl — Best Supporting Actress (Alicia Vikander), Actor (Eddie Redmayne)
Tie-in: The Danish Girl, David Ebershoff, (PRH/Penguin)
—-
Trumbo — Best Actor (Bryan Cranston)
Trumbo (Movie Tie-In Edition), Bruce Cook, (Hachette/Grand Central)
—-
Spotlight — Best Director (Tom McCarthy), Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Supporting Actress (Rachel McAdams), Best Original Screenplay
About the Boston Globe‘s Pulitzer Prize winning series . The articles were later published in book form in 2003 and re-released as a tie-in:
Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church : The findings of the investigation that inspired the major motion picture Spotlight, The Investigative Staff of the Boston Globe, (Hachette/Back Bay)
