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A visual history · Golden Globes

The winners who defined Screenplay.

68 ceremonies, 1948–2025. 56 different winners. The longest run belongs to Robert Bolt, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
Peter Straughan in 2025 for Conclave.
Who has won the most?
Aaron Sorkin, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Bolt, tied on 3 wins each.
  1. ConclavePeter Straughan
  2. Anatomy of a FallJustine Triet & Arthur Harari
  3. The Banshees of InisherinMartin McDonagh
  4. BelfastKenneth Branagh
  5. The Trial of the Chicago 7Aaron Sorkin
  6. Once Upon a Time in HollywoodQuentin Tarantino
Years explored
1948–2025
Different winners
56
Category leader
Aaron Sorkin · 3
About this record

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture was first awarded in 1948, so it does not run the full 1944–2025 window.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19482025

01 / The reigns

21 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited network / distributor.

  1. 01
    Aaron Sorkin3 wins
  2. 02
    Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor2 wins
  3. 03
    Martin McDonagh2 wins
  4. 04
    Quentin Tarantino2 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by network / distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.
Alan Ball'00
Stephen Gaghan'01
Akiva Goldsman'02
Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor'03
Sofia Coppola'04
Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor'05
Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana'06
Peter Morgan'07
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen'08
Simon Beaufoy'09
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner'10
Aaron Sorkin'11
Woody Allen'12
Quentin Tarantino'13
Spike Jonze'14
Birdman'15
Aaron Sorkin'16
Damien Chazelle'17
Martin McDonagh'18
Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie & Peter Farrelly'19
Quentin Tarantino'20
Aaron Sorkin'21
Kenneth Branagh'22
Martin McDonagh'23
Justine Triet & Arthur Harari'24
Peter Straughan'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Universal leads the recorded network / distributor credits with 8 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Universal8 wins
Searchlight5 wins
Sony3 wins
Miramax2 wins
Warner Bros.2 wins
Lionsgate1 win
Wins by network / distributor
  1. Universal831%
  2. Searchlight519%
  3. Sony312%
  4. Miramax28%
  5. Warner Bros.28%
  6. Lionsgate14%
  7. Other519%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Christopher Nolan
    3 noms
  2. 02
    Adam McKay
    2 noms
  3. 03
    Barry Jenkins
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Charlie Kaufman
    2 noms
  5. 05
    David Hare
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Kenneth Lonergan
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Aaron Sorkin
    3L · 3W
  2. 02
    Christopher Nolan
    3L · 0W
  3. 03
    Adam McKay
    2L · 0W
  4. 04
    Barry Jenkins
    2L · 0W
  5. 05
    Charlie Kaufman
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    David Hare
    2L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerNetwork / Distributor
2025Peter Straughan (Conclave)
beat 5 others
  • Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
  • Sean Baker (Anora)
  • Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold (The Brutalist)
  • Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)
  • Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)
Focus Features
2024Justine Triet & Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)
beat 5 others
  • Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach (Barbie)
  • Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
  • Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
  • Celine Song (Past Lives)
  • Tony McNamara (Poor Things)
Neon
2023Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
beat 4 others
  • Todd Field (Tár)
  • Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
  • Sarah Polley (Women Talking)
  • Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner (The Fabelmans)
Searchlight Pictures
2022Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
beat 4 others
  • Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
  • Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
  • Adam McKay (Don't Look Up)
  • Aaron Sorkin (Being the Ricardos)
Focus Features
2021Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
beat 4 others
  • Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
  • Jack Fincher (Mank)
  • Florian Zeller & Christopher Hampton (The Father)
  • Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
Netflix
2020Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
beat 4 others
  • Steven Zaillian (The Irishman)
  • Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story)
  • Bong Joon-Ho & Han Jin Won (Parasite)
  • Anthony McCarten (The Two Popes)
Columbia/Sony
2019Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie & Peter Farrelly (Green Book)
beat 4 others
  • Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara (The Favourite)
  • Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk)
  • Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)
  • Adam McKay (Vice)
Universal
2018Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
beat 4 others
  • Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
  • Aaron Sorkin (Molly's Game)
  • Liz Hannah & Josh Singer (The Post)
  • Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water)
Fox Searchlight
2017Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
beat 4 others
  • Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)
  • Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
  • Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
  • Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)
Lionsgate
2016Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)
beat 4 others
  • Adam McKay & Charles Randolph (The Big Short)
  • Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)
  • Emma Donoghue (Room)
  • Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer (Spotlight)
Universal
2015Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. & Armando Bo (Birdman)
beat 4 others
  • Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
  • Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl)
  • Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
  • Graham Moore (The Imitation Game)
Fox Searchlight
2014Spike Jonze (Her)
beat 4 others
  • John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
  • Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell (American Hustle)
  • Bob Nelson (Nebraska)
  • Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope (Philomena)
Warner Bros.
2013Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
beat 4 others
  • Chris Terrio (Argo)
  • Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
  • David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
  • Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
The Weinstein Company
2012Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
beat 4 others
  • Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
  • Alexander Payne, Jim Rash & Nat Faxon (The Descendants)
  • George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon (The Ides of March)
  • Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin (Moneyball)
Sony Pictures Classics
2011Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
beat 4 others
  • Simon Beaufoy & Danny Boyle (127 Hours)
  • Christopher Nolan (Inception)
  • Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right)
  • David Seidler (The King's Speech)
Columbia/Sony
2010Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)
beat 4 others
  • Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell (District 9)
  • Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
  • Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
  • Nancy Meyers (It's Complicated)
Paramount
2009Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
beat 4 others
  • Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
  • John Patrick Shanley (Doubt)
  • Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon)
  • David Hare (The Reader)
Fox Searchlight
2008Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
beat 4 others
  • Christopher Hampton (Atonement)
  • Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson's War)
  • Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
  • Diablo Cody (Juno)
Miramax
2007Peter Morgan (The Queen)
beat 4 others
  • Guillermo Arriaga (Babel)
  • William Monahan (The Departed)
  • Todd Field & Tom Perrotta (Little Children)
  • Patrick Marber (Notes on a Scandal)
Miramax
2006Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana (Brokeback Mountain)
beat 4 others
  • Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco (Crash)
  • George Clooney & Grant Heslov (Good Night, and Good Luck.)
  • Woody Allen (Match Point)
  • Tony Kushner & Eric Roth (Munich)
Focus Features
2005Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor (Sideways)
beat 4 others
  • John Logan (The Aviator)
  • Patrick Marber (Closer)
  • Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
  • David Magee (Finding Neverland)
Fox Searchlight
2004Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation)
beat 4 others
  • Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain)
  • Jim Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan (In America)
  • Richard Curtis (Love Actually)
  • Brian Helgeland (Mystic River)
Focus Features
2003Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor (About Schmidt)
beat 4 others
  • Charlie & Donald Kaufman (Adaptation.)
  • Bill Condon (Chicago)
  • Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven)
  • David Hare (The Hours)
New Line Cinema
2002Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind)
beat 4 others
  • Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park)
  • Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (The Man Who Wasn't There)
  • Christopher Nolan (Memento)
  • David Lynch (Mulholland Drive)
Universal/DreamWorks
2001Stephen Gaghan (Traffic)
beat 4 others
  • Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous)
  • Doug Wright (Quills)
  • Steve Kloves (Wonder Boys)
  • Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me)
USA Films
2000Alan Ball (American Beauty)
beat 4 others
  • Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich)
  • John Irving (The Cider House Rules)
  • Eric Roth & Michael Mann (The Insider)
  • M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense)
DreamWorks