Logan director James Mangold has confirmed that a black-and-white version of the movie is in the works. Most fans haven’t even seen the color version yet, which was released in theaters everywhere today. The first Logan promo shots posted on Instagram were in black and white, prompting some fans to believe the film would have the same style. Once the color trailer was released, fans dropped the theory. Now, thanks to some prodding on Twitter, we know that theory wasn’t too far off. In response to pleas for a black-and-white Logan, Mangold repeatedly said he was “working on it.” See the Twitter exchanges below.
@AdamMcDee Workin’ on it.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) March 1, 2017
@freakwithamouth Good to know… working on it!
— Mangold (@mang0ld) March 1, 2017
There is no word yet as to when the new version will be revealed, and it seems likely it will just be for home release with some select theater appearances, a la the “black and chrome” version of George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road. Changing a color film to black and white isn’t as easy as changing the filter on Snapchat or Instagram, and it’ll probably be a little while before we can see the new version. Many critics have described Logan as a kind of noir-y western, so black and white should jive well with the dark subject matter and cinematography.
To learn more about the extreme brutality of Logan, check Paste’s review, in which our own Jim Vorel describes the movie as a “supremely gritty, nihilistic vision of a future where entropy has seemingly conquered all.” If you want a better idea of what a black-and-white Logan is going to look like, watch the black-and-white edition of the trailer below.