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A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Orig. Screenplay.

84 ceremonies, 1941–2025. 82 different winners.

Who won most recently?
Sean Baker in 2025 for Anora.
Who has won the most?
Paddy Chayefsky and Woody Allen, tied on 2 wins each.
  1. AnoraSean Baker
  2. Anatomy of a FallJustine Triet & Arthur Harari
  3. Everything Everywhere All at OnceDaniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
  4. BelfastKenneth Branagh
  5. Promising Young WomanEmerald Fennell
  6. ParasiteBong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won
Years explored
1941–2025
Different winners
82
Category leader
Paddy Chayefsky · 2
About this record

Best Original Screenplay was first awarded in 1941, so it does not run the full 1929–2025 window.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19412025

01 / The reigns

26 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 distributor.

One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.
Alan Ball'00
Cameron Crowe'01
Julian Fellowes'02
Pedro Almodóvar'03
Sofia Coppola'04
Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth'05
Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco'06
Michael Arndt'07
Diablo Cody'08
Dustin Lance Black'09
Mark Boal'10
David Seidler'11
Woody Allen'12
Quentin Tarantino'13
Spike Jonze'14
Birdman'15
Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy'16
Kenneth Lonergan'17
Jordan Peele'18
Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly'19
Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won'20
Emerald Fennell'21
Kenneth Branagh'22
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert'23
Justine Triet & Arthur Harari'24
Sean Baker'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Universal leads the recorded distributor credits with 9 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Universal9 wins
Neon3 wins
Searchlight3 wins
Sony2 wins
The Weinstein Company2 wins
A241 win
Wins by distributor
  1. Universal935%
  2. Neon312%
  3. Searchlight312%
  4. Sony28%
  5. The Weinstein Company28%
  6. A2414%
  7. Other623%

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
    Mike Leigh
    4 noms
  2. 02
    Martin McDonagh
    3 noms
  3. 03
    Noah Baumbach
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Paul Thomas Anderson
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Mike Leigh
    4L · 0W
  2. 02
    Martin McDonagh
    3L · 0W
  3. 03
    Noah Baumbach
    2L · 0W
  4. 04
    Paul Thomas Anderson
    2L · 0W
  5. 05
    Quentin Tarantino
    2L · 1W
  6. 06
    Woody Allen
    2L · 1W

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.

YearWinnerDistributor
2025Sean Baker (Anora)
beat 4 others
  • Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold (The Brutalist)
  • Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)
  • Moritz Binder, Alex David & Tim Fehlbaum (September 5)
  • Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)
Neon
2024Justine Triet & Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)
beat 4 others
  • David Hemingson (The Holdovers)
  • Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer (Maestro)
  • Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik (May December)
  • Celine Song (Past Lives)
Neon
2023Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
beat 4 others
  • Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
  • Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner (The Fabelmans)
  • Todd Field (Tár)
  • Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness)
A24
2022Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
beat 4 others
  • Adam McKay & David Sirota (Don't Look Up)
  • Zach Baylin (King Richard)
  • Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
  • Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World)
Focus Features
2021Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
beat 4 others
  • Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas (Judas and the Black Messiah)
  • Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)
  • Darius Marder, Abraham Marder & Derek Cianfrance (Sound of Metal)
  • Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Focus Features
2020Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won (Parasite)
beat 4 others
  • Rian Johnson (Knives Out)
  • Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story)
  • Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917)
  • Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Neon
2019Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly (Green Book)
beat 4 others
  • Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara (The Favourite)
  • Paul Schrader (First Reformed)
  • Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)
  • Adam McKay (Vice)
Universal Pictures
2018Jordan Peele (Get Out)
beat 4 others
  • Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick)
  • Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
  • Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water)
  • Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Universal Pictures
2017Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
beat 4 others
  • Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)
  • Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
  • Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthymis Filippou (The Lobster)
  • Mike Mills (20th Century Women)
Amazon Studios
2016Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
beat 4 others
  • Matt Charman, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Bridge of Spies)
  • Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
  • Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley & Ronnie del Carmen (Inside Out)
  • Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus (Straight Outta Compton)
Open Road Films
2015Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. & Armando Bo (Birdman)
beat 4 others
  • Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
  • E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman (Foxcatcher)
  • Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
  • Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2014Spike Jonze (Her)
beat 4 others
  • Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell (American Hustle)
  • Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)
  • Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack (Dallas Buyers Club)
  • Bob Nelson (Nebraska)
Warner Bros.
2013Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
beat 4 others
  • Michael Haneke (Amour)
  • John Gatins (Flight)
  • Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)
  • Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
The Weinstein Company
2012Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
beat 4 others
  • Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
  • Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids)
  • J. C. Chandor (Margin Call)
  • Asghar Farhadi (A Separation)
Sony Pictures Classics
2011David Seidler (The King's Speech)
beat 4 others
  • Mike Leigh (Another Year)
  • Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson & Keith Dorrington (The Fighter)
  • Christopher Nolan (Inception)
  • Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right)
The Weinstein Company
2010Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
beat 4 others
  • Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
  • Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman (The Messenger)
  • Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (A Serious Man)
  • Bob Peterson, Pete Docter & Tom McCarthy (Up)
Summit Entertainment
2009Dustin Lance Black (Milk)
beat 4 others
  • Courtney Hunt (Frozen River)
  • Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky)
  • Martin McDonagh (In Bruges)
  • Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon & Pete Docter (WALL-E)
Focus Features
2008Diablo Cody (Juno)
beat 4 others
  • Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl)
  • Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)
  • Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava & Jim Capobianco (Ratatouille)
  • Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2007Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine)
beat 4 others
  • Guillermo Arriaga (Babel)
  • Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis (Letters from Iwo Jima)
  • Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth)
  • Peter Morgan (The Queen)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2006Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco (Crash)
beat 4 others
  • George Clooney & Grant Heslov (Good Night, and Good Luck)
  • Woody Allen (Match Point)
  • Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale)
  • Stephen Gaghan (Syriana)
Lionsgate
2005Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
beat 4 others
  • John Logan (The Aviator)
  • Terry George & Keir Pearson (Hotel Rwanda)
  • Brad Bird (The Incredibles)
  • Mike Leigh (Vera Drake)
Focus Features
2004Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation)
beat 4 others
  • Denys Arcand (The Barbarian Invasions)
  • Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things)
  • Bob Peterson, David Reynolds & Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo)
  • Jim Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan (In America)
Focus Features
2003Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her)
beat 4 others
  • Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven)
  • Jay Cocks, Kenneth Lonergan & Steven Zaillian (Gangs of New York)
  • Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding)
  • Alfonso Cuarón & Carlos Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También)
Sony Pictures Classics
2002Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park)
beat 4 others
  • Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Guillaume Laurant (Amélie)
  • Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan (Memento)
  • Milo Addica & Will Rokos (Monster's Ball)
  • Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson (The Royal Tenenbaums)
USA Films
2001Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous)
beat 4 others
  • Lee Hall (Billy Elliot)
  • Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich)
  • David Franzoni, John Logan & William Nicholson (Gladiator)
  • Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me)
DreamWorks Pictures
2000Alan Ball (American Beauty)
beat 4 others
  • Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich)
  • Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia)
  • M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense)
  • Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy)
DreamWorks Pictures