It seems my Monday item regarding the category placement of Steven Zaillian's "American Gangster" screenplay is being read too hastily as indicative of an actual decision within Universal Pictures.

Nikki Finke clarified the matter yesterday with a comment from Uni that pretty much says the same general thing I did on Monday, that the article was heavily expanded upon, the decision was the guild's and not Uni publicity's and that the studio followed suit for the Oscar campaign.

Got it?

Of course, things can always change in this crazy thing called Oscar season.  I'm not saying as much will happen with "Gangster" or even "In the Valley of Elah," but it's worth recalling the situation with "Syriana" in 2005.

After being nominated by the WGA in the adapted category and nearly winning USC's Scripter Award, Stephen Gaghan's screenplay was designated an original work by the Academy's screenplay committee when someone in the group who had read Robert Baer's "See No Evil" spoke up and said that the script had deviated considerably from that work.

So nothing is ever written in stone just because of For Your Consideration ads, mind you.