It’s time to go mono-a-mano as ‘Logan‘ gets the black and white treatment for a special release of the last Wolverine outing…
News came recently that the much-discussed black and white version of Logan would get a cinematic release for one day (16th May) in American cinemas.The version had been rumoured for quite a while and echoes the reasoning that saw a similar formatting for Mad Max: Fury Road… with the idea that the carnage seen in such movies is even more emotive when seen without colour… giving proceedings a bleak and stark mood.
Director James Mangold confirmed the version saying that it wasn’t simply a matter of ‘turning down the colour’.
“To make a great B&W version of a film, the whole thing’s gotta be regraded & timed shot by shot.In convert to b&w , one must determine which hues go dark/ light, adjust contrast, blacks. Turning down color on tv just makes gray mush….” he explained when questioned via Twitter.
However it is now known that at least one home-release format will also give viewers the black-and-white/monochrome option. In America, copies available at Walmart from 23rd May will feature a black-and-white edition, 90 minutes of bonus material and audio commentary from director James Mangold. The edition comes with a nine-poster set that shows images of Hugh Jackman in his various Wolverine movies and combine to make a bigger montage illustration.
There’s no news yet of a UK cinema release for the monochrome version… though certain unofficial info seems to indicate that the limited-edition ‘steelbook’ presentation release of the film (you can see artwork for its cover by Steve McNiven above) which will be available in the UK through HMV in July,may have the b/w version too.