One of this year’s most original films is making a strategic play for Oscar gold in the adapted screenplay category.

Jacques Audiard’s crime musical, “Emilia Pérez,” will now officially submit as an adapted screenplay for the Academy Awards, despite initially positioning itself as an original script. The film is also not WGA signatory, which means it will not be eligible for a nomination at the WGA Awards.

The shift in strategy stems from the fact that Audiard developed the screenplay from what was originally intended as an opera libretto in four acts. The title character was loosely inspired by a chapter from Boris Razon’s 2018 novel, “Écoute.”

“Emilia Pérez” centers on Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón), a notorious cartel leader who seeks the legal expertise of Rita (Zoe Saldaña) to fake her own death, allowing her to live authentically as her true self. Acquired by Netflix after premiering at Cannes,...