'Return of the King' eclipsed by 'American Splendor'

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood's screenwriters have snubbed the final instalment of the highly acclaimed Lord of the Rings trilogy and instead awarded a key prize to a low-budget film based on a comic-book writer.

American Splendor, which revolves around the travails of comics connoisseur Harvey Pekar, won the Writers Guild of America Award for best adapted screenplay, while writer/director Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, about a pair of mismatched Americans languishing in Tokyo, nabbed the trophy for original screenplay.

The American Splendor screenplay was written by the film's directors, Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman, who were not present at the awards. The Writers Guild of America Awards were handed out simultaneously in Los Angeles and New York.

Coppola said she was excited to be honoured. "I find it difficult to write, so it's very encouraging and exciting to get an award."

Coppola's competition was Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges and Guljit Bindra for Bend It Like Beckham, Steven Knight for Dirty Pretty Things, Irish director Jim Sheridan and his daughters Naomi and Kirsten for In America, and first-time writer/director Tom McCarthy for The Station Agent.

The other adapted screenplay nominees were director Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Anthony Minghella for Cold Mountain, Brian Helgeland for Mystic River, and writer/director Gary Ross for Seabiscuit.

Coppola, Knight and the Sheridans will vie for the Academy Award next week, along with the writers of The Barbarian Invasions and Finding Nemo.

Apart from Cold Mountain, all the Writers Guild of America adapted screenplay contenders will compete for the Oscar, along with the Brazilian drama City of God.

In the past 12 years, eight of the Writers Guild of America adapted screenplay winners and seven of its original screenplay winners have gone on to Oscar glory.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings