Judd Apatow disagrees with 'Barbie' in Oscar race for adapted screenplay

Judd Apatow disagrees with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' decision to classify Greta Gerwig's “Barbie” as an adapted screenplay rather than an original.

“It's insulting to the writers to say they were working on existing material,” the “Knocked Up” and “This Is 40” director wrote on X/Twitter on Saturday. “There was no substance or story there. There was just a clear box.”

diverse “Barbie” will compete for a best adapted screenplay nomination in the Oscar race, despite campaigning for original screenplay, exclusively reported on Wednesday. Each awards body and voting group has its own subset of rules for films in terms of which screenplay category can ultimately be submitted or nominated. Many films based around pre-existing characters — such as previous Oscar nominees “Toy Story 3,” “Borat 2,” “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight” — are classified as adapted screenplays.

The AMPAS Writers Branch Executive Committee likely moved the hot pink comic into an adapted screenplay because Barbie and Ken were pre-existing Mattel dolls. Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America has designated Barbie an original work, and she will remain in that category at the upcoming WGA Awards.

Gerwig, who became the first woman to lead a billion-dollar film, has been nominated for three Oscars in her career: “Lady Bird” (2016) for original screenplay and direction and “Little Women” (2019) for adaptation.

Chapter members eligible to vote will only be able to cast ballots for the “Barbie” script, which Gerwig co-wrote with her husband and fellow Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, in a modified screenplay. The official Oscar nominations vote is scheduled to take place on January 11.