The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay is an annual film award given by the New York Film Critics Circle.
The most successful in this category were Woody Allen, Robert Benton, Ingmar Bergman, Kenneth Lonergan, Paul Mazursky, Quentin Tarantino and the author duo Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, who each won the award twice. The Film Critics Association was able to present the Oscar winners in advance 20 times (13 times original screenplays, seven times adaptations).[citation needed]
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Around the World in 80 Days | James Poe, John Farrow, and S. J. Perelman | novel by Jules Verne |
| 1957 | No award given | ||
| 1958 | The Defiant Ones | Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith | — |
| 1959 | Anatomy of a Murder | Wendell Mayes | novel by Robert Traver |
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | The Apartment | I. A. L. Diamond and Billy Wilder | — |
| 1961 | Judgment at Nuremberg | Abby Mann | teleplay by Abby Mann |
| 1962 | No award given (newspaper strike) | ||
| 1963 | Hud | Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. | novel by Larry McMurtry |
| 1964 | The Servant | Harold Pinter | novel by Robin Maugham |
| 1965 | No award given | ||
| 1966 | A Man for All Seasons | Robert Bolt | play by Robert Bolt |
| 1967 | Bonnie and Clyde | David Newman and Robert Benton | — |
| 1968 | Pretty Poison | Lorenzo Semple Jr. | novel by Stephen Geller |
| 1969 | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker | — |
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | My Night at Maud's (Ma nuit chez Maud) | Éric Rohmer | — |
| 1971 | The Last Picture Show | Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich | novel by Larry McMurtry |
| Sunday Bloody Sunday | Penelope Gilliatt | — | |
| 1972 | Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop) | Ingmar Bergman | — |
| 1973 | American Graffiti | George Lucas, Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck | — |
| 1974 | Scenes from a Marriage (Scener ur ett äktenskap) | Ingmar Bergman | — |
| 1975 | The Story of Adele H. (L'Histoire d'Adèle H.) | François Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman, and Jean Gruault | diaries by Adèle Hugo |
| 1976 | Network | Paddy Chayefsky | — |
| 1977 | Annie Hall | Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman | — |
| 1978 | An Unmarried Woman | Paul Mazursky | — |
| 1979 | Breaking Away | Steve Tesich | — |
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Melvin and Howard | Bo Goldman | — |
| 1981 | Atlantic City | John Guare | — |
| 1982 | Tootsie | Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal | — |
| 1983 | Local Hero | Bill Forsyth | — |
| 1984 | Places in the Heart | Robert Benton | — |
| 1985 | The Purple Rose of Cairo | Woody Allen | — |
| 1986 | My Beautiful Laundrette | Hanif Kureishi | — |
| 1987 | Broadcast News | James L. Brooks | — |
| 1988 | Bull Durham | Ron Shelton | — |
| 1989 | Drugstore Cowboy | Gus Van Sant and Daniel Yost | — |
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Mr. and Mrs. Bridge | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | novels by Evan S. Connell |
| 1991 | Naked Lunch | David Cronenberg | novel by William S. Burroughs |
| 1992 | The Crying Game | Neil Jordan | — |
| 1993 | The Piano | Jane Campion | — |
| 1994 | Pulp Fiction | Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary | — |
| 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Emma Thompson | novel by Jane Austen |
| 1996 | Mother | Albert Brooks and Monica Johnson | — |
| 1997 | L.A. Confidential | Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland | novel by James Ellroy |
| 1998 | Shakespeare in Love | Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard | — |
| 1999 | Election | Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor | novel by Tom Perrotta |
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | You Can Count on Me | Kenneth Lonergan | — |
| 2001 | Gosford Park | Julian Fellowes | — |
| 2002 | Adaptation. | Charlie and Donald Kaufman | novel by Susan Orlean |
| 2003 | The Secret Lives of Dentists | Craig Lucas | novel by Jane Smiley |
| 2004 | Sideways | Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor | novel by Rex Pickett |
| 2005 | The Squid and the Whale | Noah Baumbach | — |
| 2006 | The Queen | Peter Morgan | — |
| 2007 | No Country for Old Men | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | novel by Cormac McCarthy |
| 2008 | Rachel Getting Married | Jenny Lumet | — |
| 2009 | In the Loop | Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche | — |
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Kids Are All Right | Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko | — |
| 2011 | Moneyball | Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin | novel by Michael Lewis |
| 2012 | Lincoln | Tony Kushner | novel by Doris Kearns Goodwin |
| 2013 | American Hustle | Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell | — |
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Wes Anderson | — |
| 2015 | Carol | Phyllis Nagy | novel by Patricia Highsmith |
| 2016 | Manchester by the Sea | Kenneth Lonergan | — |
| 2017 | Phantom Thread | Paul Thomas Anderson[1] | — |
| 2018 | First Reformed | Paul Schrader[2] | — |
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Quentin Tarantino[3] | — |
| Year | Winner | Writer(s) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Eliza Hittman[4] | — |
| 2021 | Licorice Pizza | Paul Thomas Anderson[5] | — |
| 2022 | The Banshees of Inisherin | Martin McDonagh | — |
| 2023 | May December | Samy Burch | - |