Oscars 2026: Paul Thomas Anderson wins ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for ‘One Battle After Another’
Paul Thomas Anderson has won his first Oscar in the ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ category for One Battle After Another, and it’s about time, with the filmmaker having 14 nominations going into the ceremony.
After years of being passed over for recognition by the Academy Awards, Anderson earned a deserved first victory for his ambitious adaptation of the Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland. It’s the second Pynchon adaptation that he’s written and directed, having previously been nominated in the same category for Inherent Vice.
There was no shortage of impressive nominees in the category, as all four competitors were also ‘Best Picture’-nominated films.
Bugonia by Will Tracy, Train Dreams by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwaider, Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro, and Hamnet by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell were all festival favourites, but there was never any doubt over the outcome.
Anderson had previously won the same category at the Baftas, Critics’ Choice, WGA, and USC Scripter Awards, and realistically, it would have been a colossal upset had any other picture won ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’.
In his acceptance speech, Anderson thanked his family, saying, “I wrote this movie for my kids, to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them,” before adding that “with the encouragement that they will be the generation that they will hopefully be the generation that brings us some common sense and decency.”
With a total of 13 nominations, One Battle After Another is one of the most nominated films in history, and the second-most recognised 2026 release behind Sinners and its record-breaking 16 nominations.
Anderson has always been praised for his visual storytelling skills, but his talents as a writer have been perhaps even more celebrated; he previously earned ‘Best Original Screenplay’ nominations for Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Licorice Pizza, as well as ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ nods for There Will Be Blood and Inherent Vice.
One Battle After Another curiously chose to forsake the typical festival route, as it debuted in theatres in September as part of Warner Bros’ impressive string of box office hits. It also became Anderson’s highest-grossing film ever, earning over double what There Will Be Blood did back in 2007.
Anderson has made a lot of period pieces, often in the ’70s, but One Battle After Another is a vital film that speaks to the current moment. Rooted deeply in the current socio-political climate, if anything, the picture has become even more prescient than it was upon its debut six months ago.
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