WGA Awards Winners Revealed: From Sinners to One Battle After Another — Full List
Sinners and One Battle After Another topped the 2026 Writers Guild of America Awards on Sunday at Manhattan’s Edison Ballroom, as the ceremony saluted the year’s best screenwriting across film, television, and digital media.
The Writers Guild handed out its 2026 trophies in Manhattan on Sunday, and the night neatly split the difference in the film race while a certain HBO hospital drama ran the table on TV. The ceremony, staged at the Edison Ballroom, spotlighted writing across film, television, and digital media, and it had a few strategically timed ripples heading straight for the Oscars.
Film: Coogler vs. PTA, score it 1–1
Ryan Coogler won Original Screenplay for his Warner Bros. drama 'Sinners,' and Paul Thomas Anderson took Adapted Screenplay for 'One Battle After Another.' Both writer-directors have been staring each other down all season; the guild gave each a lane and let them drive home with matching hardware.
That matters with the Academy Awards set for March 15. 'Sinners' is up for the Original Screenplay Oscar against 'Marty Supreme,' 'Blue Moon,' 'Sentimental Value,' and 'It Was Just an Accident.' Two of those competitors, 'Sentimental Value' and 'It Was Just an Accident,' sat out the WGA race thanks to the guild's membership rules. The same rules also kept the International Feature nominees 'The Secret Agent' and 'Sirat' off the guild ballot. It is one of those very specific guild-rule quirks that can make tea-leaf reading tricky.
TV: 'The Pitt' owns drama
HBO's medical procedural 'The Pitt' had a perfect night, going three-for-three: Drama Series, New Series, and Episodic Drama for its pilot, '7:00 A.M.' The show, led by Noah Wyle, is now officially the writers' room that cleaned everyone else's clock this season.
Comedy and variety: a tidy spread
Apple TV+'s 'The Studio' won Comedy Series, while HBO's 'The Righteous Gemstones' grabbed Episodic Comedy for the episode 'Prelude.' Over in talk and sketch, 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' added another Comedy/Variety Series prize to its frankly absurd shelf.
Career honors worth pausing on
Stephen Colbert received the Walter Bernstein Award for career achievement from WGA East, a well-timed salute with 'The Late Show' wrapping its run in May. Screenwriter Terry George, whose credits include 'Hotel Rwanda' and 'In the Name of the Father,' accepted the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for career achievement.
- Original Screenplay: 'Sinners' — Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros.)
- Adapted Screenplay: 'One Battle After Another' — Paul Thomas Anderson
- Drama Series: 'The Pitt' (HBO)
- Episodic Drama: 'The Pitt' pilot, '7:00 A.M.' (HBO)
- New Series: 'The Pitt' (HBO)
- Comedy Series: 'The Studio' (Apple TV+)
- Episodic Comedy: 'The Righteous Gemstones' — 'Prelude' (HBO)
- Comedy/Variety Series – Talk or Sketch: 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' (HBO)
- Walter Bernstein Award (WGA East): Stephen Colbert
- Ian McLellan Hunter Award: Terry George
Bottom line: the guild split the movie spoils between Coogler and PTA, supercharged 'The Pitt' as the drama to beat, and handed out a few graceful farewells and flowers along the way. The Oscar race just got a little sharper.