Saturn Award for Best Writing
| Saturn Award for Best Writing | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best writing of the year for a genre film |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films |
| First awarded | 1973 |
| Currently held by | Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019/2020) |
| Website | www |
The Saturn Awards for Best Writing is a Saturn Award presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.
Unlike most awards rewarding writing in films, it recognizes only the writer(s) of the screenplay, and not those of the story.
Winners and nominees[]
1970s[]
| Year | Writer(s) | Motion Picture |
|---|---|---|
(2nd) |
William Peter Blatty | The Exorcist |
(3rd) |
Harlan Ellison (for his career) | |
| Ib Melchior (for his career) | ||
(4th) |
Jimmy Sangster (for his career) | |
(5th) |
George Lucas | Star Wars |
| Larry Gelbart | Oh, God! | |
| Laird Koenig | The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | |
| Steven Spielberg | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | |
| Michael Winner and Jeffrey Konvitz | The Sentinel | |
(6th) |
Elaine May and Warren Beatty | Heaven Can Wait |
| Heywood Gould | The Boys from Brazil | |
| Cliff Green | Picnic at Hanging Rock | |
| Rosemary Ritvo and Alfred Sole | Alice, Sweet Alice (Communion) | |
| Anthony Shaffer | The Wicker Man | |
(7th) |
Nicholas Meyer | Time After Time |
| Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns | The Muppet Movie | |
| Robert Kaufman | Love at First Bite | |
| Dan O'Bannon | Alien | |
| Jeb Rosebrook and Gerry Day | The Black Hole | |
1980s[]
| Year | Writer(s) | Motion Picture |
|---|---|---|
(8th) |
William Peter Blatty | The Ninth Configuration |
| Sidney Aaron | Altered States | |
| Leigh Brackett (posthumous nomination) and Lawrence Kasdan | The Empire Strikes Back | |
| Lewis John Carlino | Resurrection | |
| John Sayles | Alligator | |
(9th) |
Lawrence Kasdan | Raiders of the Lost Ark |
| David Eyre and Michael Wadleigh | Wolfen | |
| Peter Hyams | Outland | |
| John Landis | An American Werewolf in London | |
| Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam | Time Bandits | |
(10th) |
Melissa Mathison | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial |
| Jay Presson Allen | Deathtrap | |
| Terry Hayes, George Miller and Brian Hannant | Mad Max 2 | |
| Tom Karnowski, John Stuckmeyer and Albert Pyun | The Sword and the Sorcerer | |
| Jack B. Sowards | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | |
(11th) |
Ray Bradbury | Something Wicked This Way Comes |
| Jeffrey Boam | The Dead Zone | |
| William Condon and Michael Laughlin | Strange Invaders | |
| Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas | Return of the Jedi | |
| Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes | WarGames | |
(12th) |
James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd | The Terminator |
| Chris Columbus | Gremlins | |
| Alex Cox | Repo Man | |
| Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | |
| Earl Mac Rauch | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | |
(13th) |
Tom Holland | Fright Night |
| Woody Allen | The Purple Rose of Cairo | |
| Tom Benedek | Cocoon | |
| Chris Columbus | Young Sherlock Holmes | |
| Terry Hayes and George Miller | Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome | |
(14th) |
James Cameron | Aliens |
| Howard Ashman | Little Shop of Horrors | |
| Nick Castle | The Boy Who Could Fly | |
| Paul Hogan, Ken Shadie and John Cornell | "Crocodile" Dundee | |
| Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Harve Bennett and Nicholas Meyer | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | |
(15th) |
Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner | RoboCop |
| Michael Cristofer | The Witches of Eastwick | |
| James Dearden | Fatal Attraction | |
| William Goldman | The Princess Bride | |
| Bob Hunt | The Hidden | |
| Alan Parker | Angel Heart | |
(16th) |
Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg | Big |
| David Cronenberg and Norman Snider | Dead Ringers | |
| Don Mancini, John Lafia and Tom Holland | Child's Play | |
| Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren | Beetlejuice | |
| Alan B. McElroy | Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers | |
| Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | |
(17th) |
William Peter Blatty | The Exorcist III |
| Jerry Belson | Always | |
| Jeffrey Boam | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | |
| James Cameron | The Abyss | |
| Don Jakoby and Wesley Strick | Arachnophobia | |
| Phil Alden Robinson | Field of Dreams | |
| Bruce Joel Rubin | Ghost | |
| Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon and Gary Goldman | Total Recall |
1990s[]
| Year | Writer(s) | Motion Picture |
|---|---|---|
(18th) |
Ted Tally | The Silence of the Lambs |
| Albert Brooks | Defending Your Life | |
| James Cameron and William Wisher | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | |
| Charles Gale | Guilty as Charged | |
| William Goldman | Misery | |
| Richard LaGravenese | The Fisher King | |
(19th) |
James V. Hart | Bram Stoker's Dracula |
| Martin Donovan and David Koepp | Death Becomes Her | |
| Joe Eszterhas | Basic Instinct | |
| David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson | Alien 3 | |
| David Lynch and Robert Engels | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | |
| Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country | |
| Bernard Rose | Candyman | |
(20th) |
Michael Crichton and David Koepp | Jurassic Park |
| Shane Black and David Arnott | Last Action Hero | |
| Brent Maddock, S. S. Wilson, Gregory Hansen and Erik Hansen | Heart and Souls | |
| Tim Metcalfe | Kalifornia | |
| Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis | Groundhog Day | |
| Quentin Tarantino | True Romance | |
| Tracy Tormé | Fire in the Sky | |
(21st) |
Jim Harrison and Wesley Strick | Wolf |
| Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski | Ed Wood | |
| Frank Darabont | The Shawshank Redemption | |
| Steph Lady and Frank Darabont | Frankenstein | |
| Eric Roth | Forrest Gump | |
| Mark Verheiden | Timecop | |
(22nd) |
Andrew Kevin Walker | Se7en |
| James Cameron and Jay Cocks | Strange Days | |
| George Miller and Chris Noonan | Babe | |
| David Peoples and Janet Peoples | 12 Monkeys | |
| Quentin Tarantino | From Dusk till Dawn | |
| Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow | Toy Story | |
(23rd) |
Kevin Williamson | Scream |
| Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich | Independence Day | |
| Jonathan Gems | Mars Attacks! | |
| The Wachowskis | Bound | |
| Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson | The Frighteners | |
| Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore | Star Trek: First Contact | |
(24th) |
Mike Werb and Michael Colleary | Face/Off |
| James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg | Contact | |
| Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy | The Devil's Advocate | |
| Edward Neumeier | Starship Troopers | |
| Matthew Robbins and Guillermo del Toro | Mimic | |
| Ed Solomon | Men in Black | |
(25th) |
Andrew Niccol | The Truman Show |
| Brandon Boyce | Apt Pupil | |
| Don Mancini | Bride of Chucky | |
| Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer | Dark City | |
| Gary Ross | Pleasantville | |
| Joseph Stefano | Psycho | |
(26th) |
Charlie Kaufman | Being John Malkovich |
| Ehren Kruger | Arlington Road | |
| M. Night Shyamalan | The Sixth Sense | |
| Stephen Sommers | The Mummy | |
| The Wachowskis | The Matrix | |
| Andrew Kevin Walker | Sleepy Hollow |
2000s[]
| Year | Writer(s) | Motion Picture |
|---|---|---|
(27th) |
David Hayter | X-Men |
| Toby Emmerich | Frequency | |
| David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson | Gladiator | |
| Karey Kirkpatrick | Chicken Run | |
| Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson | The Gift | |
| Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, Tsai Kuo Jung | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | |
(28th) |
Steven Spielberg | A.I. Artificial Intelligence |
| Alejandro Amenábar | The Others | |
| Stéphane Cabel and Christophe Gans | Brotherhood of the Wolf | |
| Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman and Roger S. H. Schulman | Shrek | |
| Andrew Stanton and Dan Gerson | Monsters, Inc. | |
| Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | |
(29th) |
Scott Frank and Jon Cohen | Minority Report |
| Brent Hanley | Frailty | |
| Hayao Miyazaki Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt |
Spirited Away | |
| Mark Romanek | One Hour Photo | |
| Hillary Seitz | Insomnia | |
| Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair and Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | |
(30th) |
Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter | X2 | |
| Alex Garland | 28 Days Later | |
| Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon | Freaky Friday | |
| Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds | Finding Nemo | |
| Quentin Tarantino | Kill Bill: Volume 1 | |
(31st) |
Alvin Sargent | Spider-Man 2 |
| Stuart Beattie | Collateral | |
| Charlie Kaufman | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | |
| Steve Kloves | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | |
| Brad Bird | The Incredibles | |
| Quentin Tarantino | Kill Bill: Volume 2 | |
(32nd) |
Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer | Batman Begins |
| Steve Kloves | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | |
| David Koepp | War of the Worlds | |
| George Lucas | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | |
| Ann Peacock, Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | |
| Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson | King Kong | |
(33rd) |
Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris | Superman Returns |
| Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger and Tom Tykwer | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | |
| Guillermo del Toro | Pan's Labyrinth | |
| Zach Helm | Stranger than Fiction | |
| Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis | Casino Royale | |
| The Wachowskis | V for Vendetta | |
(34th) |
Brad Bird | Ratatouille |
| Joel and Ethan Coen | No Country for Old Men | |
| Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary | Beowulf | |
| Michael Goldenberg | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | |
| John Logan | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | |
| Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon | 300 | |
(35th) |
Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan | The Dark Knight |
| Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway | Iron Man | |
| David Koepp, John Kamps | Ghost Town | |
| John Ajvide Lindqvist | Let the Right One In | |
| Eric Roth | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| J. Michael Straczynski | Changeling | |
(36th) |
James Cameron | Avatar |
| Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell | District 9 | |
| David Hayter and Alex Tse | Watchmen | |
| Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers | Where the Wild Things Are | |
| Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman | Star Trek | |
| Quentin Tarantino | Inglourious Basterds |
2010s[]
| Year | Writer(s) | Motion Picture |
|---|---|---|
(37th) |
Christopher Nolan | Inception |
| Michael Arndt | Toy Story 3 | |
| Alex Garland | Never Let Me Go | |
| Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John J. McLaughlin | Black Swan | |
| Peter Morgan | Hereafter | |
| Matt Reeves | Let Me In | |
(38th) |
Jeff Nichols | Take Shelter |
| J. J. Abrams | Super 8 | |
| Woody Allen | Midnight in Paris | |
| Mike Cahill, Brit Marling | Another Earth | |
| Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | |
| John Logan | Hugo | |
(39th) |
Quentin Tarantino | Django Unchained |
| Tracy Letts | Killer Joe | |
| David Magee | Life of Pi | |
| Martin McDonagh | Seven Psychopaths | |
| Joss Whedon | The Avengers | |
| Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard | The Cabin in the Woods | |
(40th) |
Spike Jonze | Her |
| Joel and Ethan Coen | Inside Llewyn Davis | |
| Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón | Gravity | |
| Jennifer Lee | Frozen | |
| Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright | The World's End | |
| Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | |
(41st) |
Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan | Interstellar |
| Wes Anderson | The Grand Budapest Hotel | |
| Damien Chazelle | Whiplash | |
| James Gunn and Nicole Perlman | Guardians of the Galaxy | |
| Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | |
| Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth | Edge of Tomorrow | |
| Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | |
(42nd) |
Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams and Michael Arndt | Star Wars: The Force Awakens |
| Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins | Crimson Peak | |
| Alex Garland | Ex Machina | |
| Drew Goddard | The Martian | |
| Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn | Kingsman: The Secret Service | |
| Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly | Jurassic World | |
| George Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris | Mad Max: Fury Road | |
(43rd) |
Eric Heisserer | Arrival |
| Melissa Mathison (posthumously) | The BFG | |
| Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick | Deadpool | |
| Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill | Doctor Strange | |
| Taylor Sheridan | Hell or High Water | |
| Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | |
(44th) |
Rian Johnson | Star Wars: The Last Jedi |
| Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole | Black Panther | |
| Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor | The Shape of Water | |
| Hampton Fancher and Michael Green | Blade Runner 2049 | |
| Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green | Logan | |
| Allan Heinberg | Wonder Woman | |
| Jordan Peele | Get Out | |
(45th) |
Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and John Krasinski | A Quiet Place |
| Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely | Avengers: Endgame | |
| Drew Goddard | Bad Times at the El Royale | |
| Oh Jung-mi and Lee Chang-dong | Burning | |
| Christopher McQuarrie | Mission: Impossible – Fallout | |
| Jordan Peele | Us | |
| S. Craig Zahler | Dragged Across Concrete | |
(46th) |
Quentin Tarantino | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood |
| J. J. Abrams and Chris Terrio | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | |
| Mike Flanagan | Doctor Sleep | |
| Lauren Hynek, Rick Jaffa, Elizabeth Martin, and Amanda Silver | Mulan | |
| Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won | Parasite | |
| Christopher Nolan | Tenet | |
| Todd Phillips and Scott Silver | Joker |
Multiple nominations[]
- 7 nominations
- Peter Jackson
- Quentin Tarantino
- Fran Walsh
- 6 nominations
- Philippa Boyens
- James Cameron
- Guillermo del Toro
- 5 nominations
- Christopher Nolan
- 4 nominations
- Lawrence Kasdan
- David Koepp
- George Miller
- 3 nominations
- J. J. Abrams
- William Peter Blatty
- Alex Garland
- Drew Goddard
- David Hayter
- Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
- John Logan
- George Lucas
- Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
- Nicholas Meyer
- Andrew Stanton
- The Wachowskis
- 2 nominations
- Woody Allen
- Michael Arndt
- Brad Bird
- Jeffrey Boam
- Joel and Ethan Coen
- Chris Columbus
- Frank Darabont
- Michael Dougherty
- Scott Frank
- Tony Gilroy
- Michael Goldenberg
- William Goldman
- David S. Goyer
- Michael Green
- Dan Harris
- James V. Hart
- Terry Hayes
- Tom Holland
- Spike Jonze
- Charlie Kaufman
- Steve Kloves
- Don Mancini
- Melissa Mathison
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Edward Neumeier
- Jonathan Nolan
- Dan O'Bannon
- Jordan Peele
- Matthew Robbins
- Gary Ross
- Eric Roth
- Steven Spielberg
- Wesley Strick
- Andrew Kevin Walker
- Joss Whedon
Multiple wins[]
- 4 wins
- Christopher Nolan
- 3 wins
- William Peter Blatty
- James Cameron
- 2 wins
- Lawrence Kasdan
- Jonathan Nolan
- Quentin Tarantino
External links[]
Categories:
- Saturn Awards