Why 'Borat 2' was nominated for best adapted screenplay at the Oscars and not original screenplay

• "Borat 2" was nominated for the best adapted screenplay Oscar despite being an original movie.
• The Academy considers all sequels to be based off of the first movies in the series.
• Therefore, "Borat 2" is classed as an adaptation of 2006's "Borat."

"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" just landed two Oscar nominations - one for breakout supporting actress Maria Bakalova and one for the movie's improvisation-heavy script.

The movie was nominated for best adapted screenplay rather than original screenplay. This has confused some people since the "Borat" sequel is an original movie that's not based on any musical, play, book, TV series, or other existing media.

However, the Academy considers all sequels to be adaptations. In the rules, sequels are said to be based on existing stories and characters from the first movie. So "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" is, in the minds of Oscar voters, adapted from the 2006 "Borat" movie, which was originally nominated for best original screenplay.

This rule has caused confusion several times before. In 2011, Pixar's "Toy Story 3" was nominated for adapted screenplay for the same reason. The first "Toy Story" movie was nominated for best original screenplay.

Damien Chazelle's breakout movie "Whiplash" was also nominated for adapted screenplay. The movie was adapted from Chazelle's 20-minute short film of the same name.

Basically, the Oscar's rule dictates that any movie featuring the same characters from an existing movie would be considered adaptations, including spin-offs, prequels, and remakes.

A total of nine writers are credited and nominated for the "Borat" sequel script, which features some scenes that were entirely improvised. Sacha Baron Cohen is one of those writers. He was also nominated for best supporting actor for "The Trial of the Chicago 7." This is his third nomination in total.