Paul Thomas Anderson Wins Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for ‘One Battle After Another’

This is Anderson's first Oscar win after 11 previous nominations.

We can finally say it: Paul Thomas Anderson is an Academy Award winner. After three decades as one of America’s most acclaimed filmmakers and receiving eleven previous nominations, Anderson took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for “One Battle After Another.”

In his acceptance speech, Anderson briefly acknowledged Thomas Pynchon before thanking his family and expressing the personal connection that he felt to the material as a father.

“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,” Anderson said. “But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that they will hopefully be the generation that brings us some common sense and decency.”

The award could be the first of several trophies Anderson wins tonight, as he is also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture as a producer on the film. “One Battle After Another” has been an awards frontrunner ever since it debuted in September, as the combination of rave reviews, timely messaging, and the overwhelming sense that Anderson is overdue for some awards love creating a snowball effect.

In addition to Anderson’s nods, the film received ten other Oscar nominations: Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor for Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn, Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor, Best Cinematography for Michael Bauman, Best Film Editing for Andy Jurgensen, Best Original Score for Jonny Greenwood, Best Casting for Cassandra Kulukundis (in the category’s inaugural edition), Best Production Design by Anthony Carlino and Florencia Martin, and Best Sound for Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, and Tony Villaflor. 

Anderson’s script is loosely based on sections of “Vineland,” Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel that served as his follow-up to “Gravity’s Rainbow.” While Anderson changed the character names and time period — in addition to cutting decades of storylines about other generations and quite a few ninjas — the core story about an aging hippie raising a daughter years after his radical political movement failed remains the same. It marks the second time Anderson has adapted Pynchon, as he also picked up an Adapted Screenplay nod for 2014’s “Inherent Vice.” That adaptation was far more faithful than “One Battle After Another,” though both films demonstrated Anderson’s deep passion for Pynchon’s prose and ideas in different ways.

The film was part of a big 2025 for Pynchon, as the 88-year-old author also released his 9th novel, the Milwaukee and Hungary-set cheese noir “Shadow Ticket,” shortly after the film’s release in October.

Other previous Academy Award nominations for Anderson include Best Original Screenplay for “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia,” and “Licorice Pizza” both Best Picture and Best Director for “There Will Be Blood,” “Phantom Thread,” and “Licorice Pizza.”