Read Oscar-Contending Screenplays from 2015 Films

If it's December, it's time to read some screenplays. Every year during Oscar season, studios release copies of the screenplays for certain of their releases during the calendar year for public viewing. The idea is to get them in front of Academy voters, guild members, and critics groups — but they're great reading for scriptwriters at all levels who want to study the blueprints for films they admire. At this writing, there were 31 screenplays online. We'll update this list if more become available.

Update 12/29/15: Added The Martian
Update 1/4/16: Added 99 Homes, Beasts of No Nation, The Big Short, Concussion, Danny Collins, I Smile Back, I'll See You in my Dreams, Learning to Drive, Pawn Sacrifice, Steve Jobs, Trumbo

99 Homes
Story by Ramin Bahrani, Bahareh Azimi
Screenplay by Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi

Beasts of No Nation
By Cary Joji Fukunaga
Based on the novel by Uzodinma Iweala

The Big Short
Adaptation by Adam McKay, rewriting Charles Randolph
Based on The Big Short by Michael Lewis

Bridge of Spies
by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Brooklyn
by Nick Hornby
Adapted from the novel by Colm Toibin

Carol
By Phyllis Nagy
Based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

Concussion
By Peter Landesman

The Danish Girl
Screenplay by Lucinda Coxon
Based on the novel by David Ebershoff

Danny Collins
By Dan Fogelman

The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Written by Marielle Heller
Based on the graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner

The End of the Tour
Screenplay by Donald Margulies
Based on "Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace" by David Lipsky

Ex Machina
By Alex Garland

Far from the Madding Crowd
by David Nicholls
Based on the novel by Thomas Hardy

Grandma
Written by Paul Weitz

The Hateful Eight
By Quentin Tarantino

I Smile Back
Written by Paige Dylan and Amy Koppelman
Based on the novel I Smile Back by Amy Koppelman

I'll See You in My Dreams
Written by Brett Haley & Marc Basch

Infinitely Polar Bear
By Maya Forbes

Inside Out
original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley

The Lady in the Van
Written by Alan Bennett
Based on his memoir

Learning to Drive
By Sarah Kernochan

Legend
Written by Brian Helgeland

Macbeth
Adapted by Jacob Koskoff & Todd Louiso and Michael Lesslie
Based on the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare

The Martian
Written by Drew Goddard
Based on the novel by Andy Weir

Me & Earl & the Dying Girl
Written by Jesse Andrews
Based on the book Me and Earl and the DYing Girl (Harry Abrams, 2012)

Minions
by Brian Lynch

Mississippi Grind
by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck

Mistress America
Written by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig

Pawn Sacrifice
Screenplay by Steven Knight
Story by Stephen J Rivele & Christopher Wilkinson and Steven Knight

Remember
by Benjamin A. August

Room
Written by Emma Donoghue
Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue

Slow West
By John Maclean

The Son of Saul
A screenplay by Laszlo Nemes, Clara Royer

Steve Jobs
Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Based on the book by Walter Isaacson

Straight Outta Compton
Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff
Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff

Suffragette
Written by Abi Morgan

Testament of Youth
By Juliette Towhidi
Based on the autobiography of Vera Brittain

Trainwreck
By Amy Schumer

Trumbo
Written by John McNamara
Based on the biography by Bruce Cook

Truth
by James Vanderbilt
Based on the Book Truth and Duty by Mary Mapes

While We're Young
By Noah Baumbach

Woman in Gold
Written by Alexi Kaye Campbell

Youth
written by Paolo Sorrentino