The 2026 Writers Guild of America Awards celebrated some of the most prominent screenwriting achievements of the past year, with Sinners and One Battle After Another coming up as major winners. Held on Sunday at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan, the ceremony honored outstanding writing in film, television, and digital media.
Sinners, One Battle After Another and The Pitt win big at 2026 WGA Awards
Sinners writer-director Ryan Coogler claimed the Original Screenplay award for his Warner Bros. picture, while Paul Thomas Anderson won Adapted Screenplay for One Battle After Another, which he also directed. Both films have been competing against each other throughout the awards season.
The Writers Guild of America Awards positions both screenplays for potential Oscar gold on March 15. Sinners will compete for the Original Screenplay Academy Award against Marty Supreme, Blue Moon, Sentimental Value, and It Was Just an Accident.
On the other hand, HBO’s medical drama The Pitt also became one of the WGA Awards winners, going a perfect three-for-three. The Noah Wyle-led hospital procedural won Drama Series, Episodic Drama for its pilot “7:00 A.M.,” and New Series. This is written by R. Scott Gemmill.
Meanwhile, Apple TV+’s The Studio took home the award for Comedy Series, while HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones won Episodic Comedy for the episode “Prelude.” Another HBO program, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, secured the Comedy/Variety Series – Talk or Sketch award.
The Writers Guild of America Awards 2026 also featured several special honors. Stephen Colbert, whose The Late Show will conclude its run in May, received the Walter Bernstein Award for career achievement from WGA East. Screenwriter Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, In the Name of the Father) was honored with the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for career achievement (via Deadline).
The Writers Guild of America Awards have recognized excellence in film, television, and radio writing since 1949. Presented annually by the Writers Guild of America East and the Writers Guild of America West, the awards honor outstanding achievements across both fiction and non-fiction categories in the entertainment industry.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on ComingSoon.net.
