[BOLD {CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: [ITALIC {DIVING BELL, CHARLIE WILSON, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, ATONEMENT}]}]

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

This race is one for the veterans: The three top contenders have all won writing Oscars before. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN's Joel and Ethan Coen shared the Original Screenplay prize in 1997 for Fargo, while ATONEMENT's Christopher Hampton and THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY's Ronald Harwood have won in this category for Dangerous Liaisons and The Pianist, respectively.

Another past winner (for Schindler's List), Steven Zaillian, would be a better bet if there weren't so much confusion over the appropriate category for his American Gangster script (Universal campaigned it as an original work, but the Academy deemed it adapted since it's based on a New York magazine article). So count in two-time previous nominee Paul Thomas Anderson, for THERE WILL BE BLOOD, instead. Among the rookie possibilities, there's The Kite Runner's David Benioff, Away From Her's Sarah Polley, and Zodiac's James Vanderbilt. But we give the edge to a guy whose writing has won an Emmy and a Writers Guild award but who has never been nominated for an Oscar: Aaron Sorkin, whose CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR screenplay contains the same mix of rapid-fire dialogue and political relevance that's resulted in his crowded trophy case.

DAVE KARGER'S PICKS FOR BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Aaron Sorkin, Charlie Wilson's War

More from the EW 2008 Oscar Preview:
Keira Knightley and James McAvoy Talk ''Atonement''
Oscars: Will the show go on?

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