1920s
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay

The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source (usually a novel or play).

See also the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, a similar award for screenplays that are not adapted from elsewhere.

Following is a listing of people who have won the award.

This award started with the name Best Writing, Adaptation.

1927/1928 Seventh Heaven - Benjamin Glazer from a play by Austin Stong
Glorious Betsy - Anthony Coldeway from a play by Rida Johnson Young
The Jazz Singer - Alfred A. Cohn from the play Day of Atonement by Samson Raphaelson
In the 2nd and 3rd years there was only a single writing award for Writing Achievement with no distinction between original works and adaptations.

1928/1929 The Patriot - Hanns Kräly from a play by Ashley Dukes translated from the play Der Patriot by Alfred Neumann derived from the story Paul I by Dmitri Merezhkovsky
The Cop - William Taylor Garnett from a story by Elliott Judd Clawson
In Old Arizona - Tom Barry from the story The Caballero's Way by O. Henry
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney - Hanns Kräly from a play by Frederick Lonsdale
The Leatherneck - Elliott Judd Clawson original
Our Dancing Daughters - Josephine Lovett original
Sal of Singapore - Elliott Judd Clawson from the story The Sentimentalists by Dale Collins
Skyscraper - Elliott Judd Clawson, William Taylor Garnett from a story by Dudley Murphy
The Valiant - Tom Barry, John Hunter Booth from a play by Halworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass
A Woman of Affairs - Bess Meredyth from the novel The Green Hat by Michael Arlen
Wonder of Women - Bess Meredyth from the novel Die Frau des Steffen Tromholt by Hermann Sudermann

1929/1930 The Big House - Joseph Farnham, Martin Flavin, Frances Marion, Lennox Marion original
All Quiet on the Western Front - Maxwell Anderson, George Abbott, Del Andrews from a novel by Erich Maria Remarque
Disraeli - Julien Josephson from a play by Louis N. Parker
The Divorcee - John Meehan from the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
Street of Chance - Lenore J. Coffee, Howard Estabrook from the story by Oliver H. P. Garrett

1930s

For the 1930/31 production year the award was again subdivided, and this one was once again Best Writing, Adaptation.

1930/1931 Cimarron - Howard Estabrook from the novel by Edna Ferber
The Criminal Code - Seton I. Miller, Fred Niblo Jr. from a play by Martin Flavin
Holiday - Horace Jackson from the play by Philip Barry
Little Caesar - Francis Edward Faragoli, Robert N. Lee, Robert Lord, Darryl F. Zanuck from the novel by William R. Burnett
Skippy - Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Don Marquis, Norman Z. McLeod, Sam Mintz from the comic strip by Percy Crosby

1931/1932 Bad Girl - Edwin J. Burke from the novel and play by Viña Delmar
Arrowsmith - Sidney Howard from the novel by Sinclair Lewis
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Samuel Hoffenstein, Percy Heath from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson

1932/1933 Little Women - Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason from the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Lady for a Day - Robert Riskin from the story Madame la Gimp by Damon Runyon
State Fair - Paul Green, Sonya Levien from the novel by Philip Stong

1934 It Happened One Night - Robert Riskin from the story Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams
The Thin Man - Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich from a novel by Dashiell Hammett
Viva Villa! - Ben Hecht from the book by Edgecumb Pinchon and O. B. Stade
For 1935 the award became Best Writing, Screenplay

1935 The Informer - Dudley Nichols from the novel by Liam O'Flaherty. This was the first Academy Award ever to be declined.
Captain Blood - write-in candidate Casey Robinson from the novel by Rafael Sabatini
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer - Waldemar Young, John L. Balderston, Achmed Abdullah, Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt from the novel by Francis Yeats-Brown
Mutiny on the Bounty - Talbot Jennings, Jules Furthman, Carey Wilson from the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

1936 The Story of Louis Pasteur - Pierre Collings, Sheridan Gibney from their own story
After the Thin Man - Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett from a story by Dashiell Hammett
Dodsworth - Sidney Howard from the novel by Sinclair Lewis
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town - Robert Riskin from the story Opera Hat by Clarence Budington Kelland
My Man Godfrey - Morrie Ryskind, Eric Hatch from the novel by Eric Hatch

1937 The Life of Emile Zola - Heinz Herald, Geza Herczag, Norman Raine from the book Zola and His Time by Matthew Josephson
The Awful Truth - Viña Delmar from the play by Arthur Richman
Captains Courageous - Marc Connelly, John Lee Mahin, Dale Van Every from the novel by Rudyard Kipling
Stage Door - Morrie Ryskind, Anthony Veiller from the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman
A Star Is Born - Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, Robert Carson from a story by William A. Wellman and Robert Carson

1938 Pygmalion - Ian Dalrymple, Cecil Lewis, W.P. Lipscomb, George Bernard Shaw from the play by George Bernard Shaw
Boys Town - John Meehan, Dore Schary from the story by Dore Schary and Eleanore Griffin
The Citadel - Ian Dalrymple, Frank Wead, Elizabeth Hill from the novel by A. J. Cronin
Four Daughters - Lenore J. Coffee, Julius J. Epstein from the novel Sister Act by Fannie Hurst
You Can't Take It with You - Robert Riskin from the play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

1939 Gone with the Wind - Sidney Howard from the novel by Margaret Mitchell
Goodbye, Mr. Chips - R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West, Eric Maschwitz from the novel by James Hilton
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Sidney Buchman from the story by Lewis R. Foster
Ninotchka - Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Walter Reisch from the story by Melchior Lengyel
Wuthering Heights - Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht from the novel by Emily Brontë

1940s

1940 The Philadelphia Story - Donald Ogden Stewart from the play by Philip Barry
The Grapes of Wrath - Nunnally Johnson from the novel by John Steinbeck
Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman - Donald Ogden Stewart, Dalton Trumbo from the novel by Christopher Morley
The Long Voyage Home - Dudley Nichols from a composite of the short plays The Moon of the Caribees, In the Zone, Bound East for Cardiff and The Long Voyage Home by Eugene O'Neill
Rebecca - Philip MacDonald, Michael Hogan from the novel by Daphne Du Maurier

1941 Here Comes Mr. Jordan - Sidney Buchman, Seton Miller from the play Heaven Can Wait by Harry Segall
Hold Back the Dawn - Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder from the book by Ketti Frings
How Green Was My Valley - Philip Dunne (writer) from the novel by Richard Llewellyn
The Little Foxes - Lillian Hellman from her own play
The Maltese Falcon - John Huston from the novel by Dashiell Hammett

1942 Mrs. Miniver - George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West, Arthur Wimperis based on the novel by Jan Struther
Forty-Ninth Parallel - Rodney Ackland, Emeric Pressburger from the story by Emeric Pressburger
The Pride of the Yankees - Herman J. Mankiewicz, Jo Swerling from the story by Paul Gallico
Random Harvest - George Froeschel, Claudine West, Arthur Wimperis from the novel by James Hilton
The Talk of the Town - Sidney Buchman, Irwin Shaw from the story by Sidney Harmon

1943 Casablanca - Philip Epstein, Julius Epstein, Howard Koch from the play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison
Holy Matrimony - Nunally Johnson from the novel Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett
The More the Merrier - Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross, Robert Russell from the story by Frank Ross and Robert Russell
The Song of Bernadette - George Seaton from the novel by Franz Werfel
Watch on the Rhine - Dashiell Hammett from the play by Lillian Hellman

1944 Going My Way - Frank Butler, Frank Cavett from the story by Leo McCarey
Double Indemnity - Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler from the novel Double Indemnity in Three of a Kind by James M. Cain
Gaslight - John Van Druten, Walter Reisch, John L. Balderston from the play Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton
Laura - Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Betty Reinhardt from the novel by Vera Caspary
Meet Me in St. Louis - Irving Brecher, Fred F. Finklehoffe from the novel by Sally Benson

1945 The Lost Weekend - Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder from the novel by Charles R. Jackson
Mildred Pierce - Ranald MacDougall from the novel by James M. Cain
The Pride of the Marines - Albert Maltz from the book by Roger Butterfield
Story of G.I. Joe - Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore, Philip Stevenson from the books Brave Men and Here Is Your War by Ernie Pyle
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Frank Davis, Tess Slesinger from the novel by Betty Smith

1946 The Best Years of Our Lives - Robert Sherwood from the novel Glory for Me by MacKinlay Kantor
Anna and the King of Siam - Sally Benson, Talbot Jennings from book by Margaret Landon
Brief Encounter - Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Ronald Neame from the play Still Life by Noel Coward
The Killers - Anthony Veiller from the short story by Ernest Hemingway
Open City - Sergio Amidei, Federico Fellini from the story by Sergio Amidei, Alberto Consiglio

1947 Miracle on 34th Street - George Seaton from the story by Valentine Davies
Boomerang - Richard Murphy based on the article by Anthony Abbot (pseudonym of Fulton Oursler)
Crossfire (1947 film) - John Paxton from the novel The Brick Foxhole by Richard Brooks
Gentleman's Agreement - Moss Hart from the novel by Laura Z. Hobson
Great Expectations - David Lean, Ronald Neame, Anthony Havelock-Allan from the novel by Charles Dickens

1948 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston from the novel by B. Traven
A Foreign Affair - Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Richard L. Breen from the story by David Shaw
Johnny Belinda - Irmgard von Cube, Allen Vincent from the play by Elmer Blaney Harris
The Search - Richard Schweizer, David Wechsler from their story
The Snake Pit - Frank Partos, Millen Brand from the novel by Mary Jane Ward

1949 A Letter to Three Wives - Joseph Mankiewicz from the novel Letter to Five Wives by John Klempner
All the King's Men - Robert Rossen from the novel by Robert Penn Warren
The Bicycle Thief - Cesare Zavattini from the novel by Luigi Bartolini
Champion - Carl Foreman from the short story by Ring Lardner
The Fallen Idol - Graham Greene from his short story The Basement Room

1950s

1950 All About Eve - Joseph Mankiewicz from the short story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr
The Asphalt Jungle - Ben Maddow, John Huston from the novel by W.R. Burnett
Born Yesterday - Albert Mannheimer, from the play by Garson Kanin
Broken Arrow (1950 film) - Albert Maltz (front: Michael Blankfort) from the novel Blood Brother by Elliott Arnold
Father of the Bride - Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett from the novel by Edward Streeter

1951 A Place in the Sun - Harry Brown, Michael Wilson from the novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser and the play An American Tragedy by Patrick Kearney
The African Queen - James Agee, John Huston from the novel by C.S. Forester
Detective Story - Robert Wyler, Philip Yordan from the play by Sidney Kingsley
La Ronde - Jacques Natanson, Max Ophüls from the play Reigen by Arthur Schnitzler
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams, from his play

1952 The Bad and the Beautiful - Charles Schnee from the story Tribute to a Badman by Charles Bradshaw
Five Fingers - Michael Wilson from the novel Operation Cicero by L.C. Moyzisch
High Noon - Carl Foreman from the story The Tin Star by John W. Cunningham
The Man in the White Suit - John Dighton, Roger MacDougall, Alexander Mackendrick from the play by Roger MacDougall
The Quiet Man - Frank S. Nugent, from the story Green Rushes by Maurice Walsh

1953 From Here to Eternity - Daniel Taradash from the novel by James Jones
The Cruel Sea - Eric Ambler from the novel by Nicholas Monsarrat
Lilli - Helen Deutsch from the story Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico
Roman Holiday - Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton from the story by Dalton Trumbo (front: Ian McLellan Hunter)
Shane - A.B. Guthrie Jr. from the novel by Jack Schaefer

1954 The Country Girl - George Seaton from the play by Clifford Odets
The Caine Mutiny - Stanley Roberts from the novel by Herman Wouk
Rear Window - John Michael Hayes from the story It Had to Be Murder by Cornell Woolrich
Sabrina - Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor, Ernest Lehman from the novel Sabrina Fair by Samuel Taylor
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - Albert Hackett, Frances Gooderich, Dorothy Kingsley from the story The Sobbin' Women by Stephen Vincent Benet

1955 Marty - Paddy Chayefsky based on his teleplay
Bad Day at Black Rock - Millard Kaufman from the story Bad Day at Hondo by Howard Breslin
The Blackboard Jungle - Richard Brooks from the novel by Evan Hunter
East of Eden - Paul Osborn from the novel by John Steinbeck
Love Me or Leave Me - Daniel Fuchs, Isobel Lennart from the story by Daniel Fuchs

For 1956 the Category was renamed Screenplay--Adapted:

1956 Around the World in Eighty Days - John Farrow, S. J. Perelman, James Poe from the novel by Jules Verne
Baby Doll - Tennessee Williams from his one act plays Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton and The Unsatisfactory Supper
Friendly Persuasion - Michael Wilson from the novel by Jessamyn West Note: Originally was ineligible due to Academy bylaws
Giant - Fred Guiol, Ivan Moffat from the novel by Edna Ferber
Lust for Life - Norman Corwin from the novel by Irving Stone

For 1957 the category was renamed Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:

1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai - Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson (front: Pierre Boulle) based on the novel by Pierre Boulle
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison - John Huston, John Lee Mahin from the novel by Charles Shaw
Peyton Place - John Michael Hayes from the novel by Grace Metalious
Sayonara - Paul Osborn from the novel by James Michener
Twelve Angry Men - Reginald Rose from his teleplay

1958 Gigi - Alan Jay Lerner based on the novel by Colette
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Richard Brooks, James Poe from the play by Tennessee Williams
The Horse's Mouth - Alec Guinness from the novel by Joyce Cary
I Want to Live! - Nelson Gidding, Don M. Mankiewicz from the letters by Barbara Graham and the articles by Ed Montgomery
Separate Tables - John Gay, Terence Rattigan from the play by Terence Rattigan

1959 Room at the Top - Neil Paterson from the novel by John Braine
Anatomy of a Murder - Wendell Mayes from the by Robert Traver (pseudonym of John D. Voelker
Ben-Hur - Karl Tunberg from the novel by Lew Wallace
The Nun's Story - Robert Anderson from the book by Kathryn Hulme
Some Like it Hot - Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from a story suggested by Robert Thoeren and M. Logan

1960s

1960 Elmer Gantry - Richard Brooks from the novel by Sinclair Lewis
Inherit the Wind - Nedrick Young (front: Nathan E. Douglas), Harold Jacob Smith from the play by Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee
Sons and Lovers - Gavin Lambert, T.E.B. Clarke from the novel by D.H. Lawrence
The Sundowners - Isobel Lennart from the novel by Jon Cleary
Tunes of Glory - James Kennaway from his novel

1961 Judgment at Nuremberg - Abby Mann from his teleplay
Breakfast at Tiffany's - George Axelrod from the novel by Truman Capote
The Guns of Navarone - Carl Foreman from the novel by Alistair MacLean
The Hustler - Sydney Carroll, Robert Rossen from the novel by Walter Tevis
West Side Story - Ernest Lehman from the play by Arthur Laurents

1962 To Kill a Mockingbird - Horton Foote from the novel by Harper Lee
David and Lisa - Eleanor Perry from the novel by Theodore Isaac Rubin
Lawrence of Arabia - Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson (Note: originally the nomination was solely for Robert Bolt) from the writings of T.E. Lawrence
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov from his novel
The Miracle Worker - William Gibson from his play

1963 Tom Jones - John Osborne from the novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
Captain Newman, M.D. - Richard L. Breen, Henry Ephron, Phoebe Ephron from the novel by Leo Rosten
Hud - Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr. from the novel Horseman Pass By by Larry McMurtry
Lilies of the Field - James Poe from the novel by William E. Barrett
Sundays and Cybele - Serge Bourguignon, Bernard Eschassériaux from the novel Les Dimanches de Ville d'Avray by Bernard Eschassériaux

1964 Becket - Edward Anhalt from the play by Jean Anouilh
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George from the novel Red Alert by Peter George
Mary Poppins - Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi from the books by P.L. Travers
My Fair Lady - Alan Jay Lerner from his musical play and the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Zorba the Greek - Michael Cacoyannis from the novel The Life of Alexis Zorba by Nikos Kazantzakis

1965 Doctor Zhivago - Robert Bolt from the novel by Boris Pasternak
Cat Ballou - Walter Newman, Frank Pierson from the novel The Ballad of Cat Ballou by Roy Chanslor
The Collector - Stanley Mann, John Kohn from the novel by John Fowles
Ship of Fools - Abby Mann from the novel by Katherine Anne Porter
A Thousand Clowns - Herb Gardner from his play

1966 A Man for All Seasons - Robert Bolt from his play
Alfie - Bill Naughton from his play
The Professionals - Richard Brooks from the novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O'Rourke
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming - William Rode from the novel Off-Islanders by Nathaniel Benchley
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Ernest Lehman from the play by Edward Albee

1967 In the Heat of the Night - Stirling Silliphant from the novel by John Ball
Cool Hand Luke - Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson from the novel by Donn Pearce
The Graduate - Calder Willingham, Buck Henry from the novel by Charles Webb
In Cold Blood - Richard Brooks from the novel by Truman Capote
Ulysses - Joseph Strick, Fred Haines from the novel by James Joyce

1968 The Lion in Winter - James Goldman from his play
The Odd Couple - Neil Simon from his play
Oliver! - Vernon Harris from the musical by Lionel Bart and the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Rachel, Rachel - Stewart Stern from the novel A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Rosemary's Baby - Roman Polanski from the novel by Ira Levin

1969 Midnight Cowboy - Waldo Salt from the novel by James Leo Herlihy
Anne of the Thousand Days - John Hale, Bridget Boland, Richard Sokolove from the play by Maxwell Anderson
Goodbye, Columbus - Arnold Schulman from the novel by Philip Roth
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - James Poe, Robert E. Thompson from the novel by Horace McCoy
Z - Jorge Semprún, Costa-Gavras from the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos

1970s

1970 M*A*S*H - Ring Lardner Jr. from the novel by Richard Hooker
Airport - George Seaton from the novel by Arthur Hailey
I Never Sang for My Father - Robert Anderson from his play
Lovers and Other Strangers - Joseph Bologna, David Zelag Goodman Renée Taylor from the play by Joseph Bologna and Renée Taylor
Women in Love - Larry Kramer from the novel by D.H. Lawrence

1971 The French Connection - Ernest Tidyman from the novel by Robin Moore
A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick from the novel by Anthony Burgess
The Conformist - Bernardo Bertolucci from the novel Il Conformista by Alberto Moravia
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis - Ugo Pirro, Vittorio Bonicelli from the novel Giardino dei Finzi-Contini by Giorgio Bassani
The Last Picture Show - Larry McMurtry Peter Bogdanovich from the novel by Larry McMurtry

1972 The Godfather - Mario Puzo, Francis Coppola from the novel by Mario Puzo
Cabaret - Jay Preston Allen from the musical by Joe Masteroff, the play I Am a Camera by John Van Druten and the book Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood
The Emigrants - Bengt Forslund, Jan Troell from the novels Utvandrarna and Invandrarna by Vilhelm Moberg
Pete 'n' Tillie - Julius J. Epstein from the story Witch's Milk by Peter De Vries
Sounder - Lonne Elder III from the book by William H. Armstrong

1973 The Exorcist - William Blatty from his novel
The Last Detail - Robert Towne from the novel by Darryl Ponicsan
The Paper Chase - James Bridges from the novel by John Jay Osborn Jr.
Paper Moon - Alvin Sargent from the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown
Serpico - Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler from the book by Peter Maas

From 1974 the Category was renamed Screenplay Adapted From Other Material:

1974 The Godfather, Part II - Francis Coppola, Mario Puzo from the novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz - Lionel Chetwynd, Mordecai Richler from the book by Mordecai Richler
Lenny - Julian Barry from his play
Murder on the Orient Express - Paul Dehn from the novel by Agatha Christie
Young Frankenstein - Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks from the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Bo Goldman, Laurence Hauben from the novel by Ken Kesey
Barry Lyndon - Stanley Kubrick from the novel The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Man Who Would Be King - John Huston, Gladys Hill from the story by Rudyard Kipling
Scent of a Woman - Ruggero Maccari, Dino Risi from the novel Il buio e il mare by Giovanni Arpino
The Sunshine Boys - Neil Simon from his play

From 1976 the category was renamed Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

1976 All the President's Men - William Goldman from the book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Bound for Glory - Robert Getchell from the book by Woody Guthrie
Fellini's Casanova - Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi from the autobiography Histoire de ma vie by Giacomo Casanova
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution - Nicholas Meyer from his novel
Voyage of the Damned - David Butler, Steve Shagan from the book by Gordon Thomas; co-authored by Max Morgan Witts

1977 Julia - Alvin Sargent from the novel Pentimento by Lillian Hellman
Equus - Peter Shaffer from his play
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden - Gavin Lambert, Lewis John Carlino from the novel by Hannah Greene
Oh, God! - Larry Gelbart from the novel by Avery Corman
That Obscure Object of Desire - Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carriere from the novel La femme et le pantin by Pierre Louÿs

1978 Midnight Express - Oliver Stone from the book by Billy Hayes and William Hoffer
Bloodbrothers - Walter Newman from the novel by Richard Price
California Suite - Neil Simon from his play
Heaven Can Wait - Elaine May, Warren Beatty from the play by Harry Seagal
Same Time, Next Year - Bernard Slade from his play

1979 Kramer vs. Kramer - Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman
Apocalypse Now - John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola from the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
La Cage aux folles - Marcello Danon, Edouard Molinaro, Jean Poiret, Francis Veber from the play by Jean Poiret
A Little Romance - Allan Burns from the novel E=MC2 mon amour by Patrick Cauvin (pseudonym of Claude Klotz)
Norma Rae - Harriet Frank Jr., Irving Ravetch

1980s

1980 Ordinary People - Alvin Sargent from the novel by Judith Guest
Breaker Morant - Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens, Bruce Beresford from the play by Kenneth Ross
Coal Miner's Daughter - Tom Rickman from the autobiography by Loretta Lynn and George Vecsey
The Elephant Man - Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren, David Lynch from the book The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences by Sir Frederick Treves and The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity by Ashley Montagu
The Stunt Man - Lawrence B. Marcus, Richard Rush from the novel by Paul Brodeur

1981 On Golden Pond - Ernest Thompson from his play
The French Lieutenant's Woman - Harold Pinter from the novel by John Fowles
Pennies From Heaven - Dennis Potter from his miniseries
Prince of the City - Jay Presson Allen, Sidney Lumet from the book by Robert Daley
Ragtime - Michael Weller from the novel by E.L. Doctorow

1982 Missing - Constantin Costa-Gavras, Donald Stewart from the book by Thomas Hauser
Das Boot - Wolfgang Petersen from the novel by Lothar G. Buchheim
Sophie's Choice - Alan J. Pakula from the novel by William Styron
The Verdict - David Mamet from the novel by Barry Reed
Victor/Victoria - Blake Edwards from the earlier film screenplay by Reinhold Schünzel

1983 Terms of Endearment - James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry
The Betrayal - Harold Pinter from his play
The Dresser - Ronald Harwood from his play
Educating Rita - Willy Russell from his play
Reuben, Reuben - Julius J. Epstein from the novel by Peter De Vries and the play Spoonford by Herman Shumlin

1984 Amadeus - Peter Shaffer from his play
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes - P.H. Vazak, Michael Austin from the novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Killing Fields - Bruce Robinson from the article The Death and Life of Dith Pran by Sydney Schanberg
A Passage to India - David Lean from the novel by E.M. Forster
A Soldier's Story - Charles Fuller from the his play A Soldier's Play

1985 Out of Africa - Kurt Luedtke from the memoirs of Isak Dinesen, the book Silence Will Speak by Errol Trzebinski and the book Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller by Judith Thurman
The Color Purple - Menno Meyjes from the novel by Alice Walker
Kiss of the Spider Woman - Leonard Schrader from the novel by Manuel Puig
Prizzi's Honor - Richard Condon, Janet Roach from the novel by Richard Condon
The Trip to Bountiful - Horton Foote from his play

1986 A Room with a View - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from the novel by E.M. Forster
Children of a Lesser God - Hesper Anderson, Mark Medoff from the play by Mark Medoff
The Color of Money - Richard Price from the novel by Walter Tevis
Crimes of the Heart - Beth Henley from her play
Stand By Me - Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans from the novella The Body by Stephen King

1987 The Last Emperor - Bernardo Bertolucci, Mark Peploe from the autobiography From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi by Henry Pu Yi
The Dead - Tony Huston from the story by James Joyce
Fatal Attraction - James Dearden from the screenplay by James Dearden (This film was a re-make of an earlier, made-for-tv British film)
Full Metal Jacket - Gustav Hasford, Michael Herr, Stanley Kubrick from the novel The Short Timers by Gustav Hasford
Mitt liv som hund - Brasse Brännström, Per Berglund, Lasse Hallström, Reidar Jönsson from the novel by Reidar Jönsson

1988 Dangerous Liaisons - Christopher Hampton from the novel by Choderlos de Laclos and the play by Christopher Hampton
The Accidental Tourist - Frank Galati, Lawrence Kasdan from the novel by Anne Tyler
Gorillas in the Mist - Anna Hamilton Phelan from the article by Harold T.P. Hayes
Little Dorrit - Christine Edzard from the novel by Charles Dickens
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Jean-Claude Carrière, Philip Kaufman from the novel by Milan Kundera

1989 Driving Miss Daisy - Alfred Uhry from the play by Alfred Uhry
Born on the Fourth of July - Ron Kovic, Oliver Stone from the autobiography by Ron Kovic
Enemies: A Love Story - Paul Mazursky, Roger L. Simon from the novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Field of Dreams - Phil Alden Robinson from the novel Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
My Left Foot - Shane Connaughton, Jim Sheridan from the autobiography by Christy Brown

1990s

1990 Dances with Wolves - Michael Blake from the novel by Michael Blake
Awakenings - Steven Zaillian from the book by Oliver Sacks M.D.
Goodfellas - Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese from the novel Wise Guy by Nicholas Pileggi
The Grifters - Donald E. Westlake from the novel by Jim Thompson
Reversal of Fortune - Nicholas Kazan from the novel by Alan M. Dershowitz

From 1991 the category became Screenplay Based on Material Previously Published or Produced:

1991 The Silence of the Lambs - Ted Tally from the novel by Thomas Harris
Europa Europa - Agnieszka Holland from the autobiography by Salomon Perel
Fried Green Tomatoes - Fannie Flagg, Carol Sobieski from the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
JFK - Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar from the novel Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs and the novel On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison
The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy, Becky Johnston from the novel by Pat Conroy

1992 Howards End - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from the novel by E.M. Forster
Enchanted April - Peter Barnes from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Player - Michael Tolkin from the novel by Michael Tolkin
A River Runs Through It - Richard Friedenberg from the story by Norman Maclean
Scent of a Woman - Bo Goldman from the novel Il Buio E Il Miele by Giovanni Arpino

1993 Schindler's List - Steven Zaillian from the novel by Thomas Keneally
The Age of Innocence - Jay Cocks, Martin Scorsese from the novel by Edith Wharton
In the Name of the Father - Terry George, Jim Sheridan from the autobiography Proved Innocent by Gerry Conlon
The Remains of the Day - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
Shadowlands - William Nicholson from the play by William Nicholson

1994 Forrest Gump - Eric Roth from the novel by Winston Groom
The Madness of King George - Alan Bennett from the play The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett
Nobody's Fool - Robert Benton from the novel by Richard Russo
Quiz Show - Paul Attanasio from the novel by Richard N. Goodwin
The Shawshank Redemption - Frank Darabont from the short story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

1995 Sense and Sensibility - Emma Thompson from the novel by Jane Austen
Apollo 13 - William Broyles Jr., Al Reinert from the novel Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger
Babe - George Miller, Chris Noonan from the novel The Sheep Pig by Dick King-Smith
Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis from the novel by John O'Brien
Il Postino - Anna Pavignano, Michael Radford, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli, Massimo Troisi from the novel Ardiente Paciencia by Antonio Skármeta

1996 Sling Blade - Billy Bob Thornton from the play by Billy Bob Thornton
The Crucible - Arthur Miller from the play by Arthur Miller
The English Patient - Anthony Minghella from the novel by Michael Ondaatje
Hamlet - Kenneth Branagh from the play by William Shakespeare
Trainspotting - John Hodge from the novel by Irvine Welsh

1997 L.A. Confidential - Curtis Hanson, Brian Helgeland from the novel by James Ellroy
Donnie Brasco - Paul Attanasio from the novel Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley
The Sweet Hereafter - Atom Egoyan from the novel by Russell Banks
Wag the Dog - Hilary Henkin, David Mamet from the novel American Hero by Larry Beinhart
The Wings of the Dove - Hossein Amini from the novel by Henry James

1998 Gods and Monsters - Bill Condon from the novel Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram
Out of Sight - Scott Frank from the novel by Elmore Leonard
Primary Colors - Elaine May from the novel by Joe Klein
A Simple Plan - Scott B. Smith from the novel by Scott B. Smith
The Thin Red Line - Terrence Malick from the novel by James Jones

1999 The Cider House Rules - John Irving from the novel by John Irving
Election - Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor from the novel by Tom Perrotta
The Green Mile - Frank Darabont from the novel by Stephen King
The Insider - Eric Roth, Michael Mann from the article The Man Who Knew Too Much by Marie Brenner
The Talented Mr. Ripley - Anthony Minghella from the novel by Patricia Highsmith

2000s

2000 Traffic - Stephen Gaghan from the teleplay Traffik by Simon Moore
Chocolat - Robert Nelson Jacobs from the novel by Joanne Harris
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Ethan and Joel Coen from the poem The Odyssey by Homer
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus and Kuo Jung Tsai from the novel by Du Lu Wang
Wonder Boys - Steven Kloves from the novel by Michael Chabon

2001 A Beautiful Mind - Akiva Goldsman from the biography by Sylvia Nasar
Ghost World - Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff from several comic book stories by Daniel Clowes
In the Bedroom - Todd Field and Robert Festinger from the short story Killings by Andre Dubus
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson from the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien
Shrek - Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman from the children's book by William Steig

From 2002 the category was renamed Adapted Screenplay:

2002 The Pianist - Ronald Harwood from the book by Władysław Szpilman
About a Boy - Peter Hedges, Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz from the novel by Nick Hornby
Adaptation. - Charlie and Donald Kaufman from the book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
Chicago - Bill Condon from the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins
The Hours - David Hare from the novel by Michael Cunningham

2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson from the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien
American Splendor - Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman from the comic book series by Harvey Pekar and the comic book series Our Cancer Year by Joyce Brabner
City of God - Braulio Mantovani from the novel by Paulo Lins
Mystic River - Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane
Seabiscuit - Gary Ross from the book by Laura Hillenbrand

2004 Sideways - Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor from the novel by Rex Pickett
Before Sunset - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke from a story by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan
Finding Neverland - David Magee from the play by Allan Knee
Million Dollar Baby - Paul Haggis from several stories by F. X. Toole
The Motorcycle Diaries - José Rivera from the books Con el Che por America Latina by Alberto Granado and Notas de viaje by Ernesto Guevara

2005 Brokeback Mountain - Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from the short story by E. Annie Proulx
A History of Violence - Josh Olson from the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke
Capote - Dan Futterman from the book by Gerald Clarke
The Constant Gardener - Jeffrey Caine from the novel by John le Carré
Munich - Tony Kushner and Eric Roth from the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas