Hugh Jackman Took a Paycut for Logan‘s R-Rating — And It Sounds Like It Was Worth It

Given Logan‘s dramatic, super-serious trailer, director James Mangold made an interesting choice in promoting his film at the less-than-grimly named Butt-Numb-A-Thon (BNAT) film marathon in Austin, Texas—but it seems to have produced some great hype. He aired the first 40 minutes of Logan at BNAT, and initial reactions to the footage are pretty psyched. In addition, Mangold answered a few questions about the film’s development, including the reveal that Hugh Jackman accepted a paycut in order for Logan to secure an R rating.

Neither Mangold nor Jackman has retweeted or confirmed the news about the reported paycut, but it seems plausible. R-rated superhero movies tend to be less profitable, because they lose a good chunk of the teen and preteen audience, so it’s likely that the studio would insist on a smaller budget for the film were it to receive that rating. Apparently, Jackman was willing to do his part to get the budget down.

Audience members at BNAT also seemed excited about the first 40 minutes of the film. Admittedly, even those who enjoyed the footage don’t know if Logan sticks the landing, but X-Men fans can find some reasons to feel cautiously optimistic. Could Logan break the X-Men curse?

Lots of amazing stuff at this year’s BNAT. The first 40 minutes of Logan we were shown was truly fantastic.

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) December 11, 2016

40 mins of Logan screened with @mang0ld in the house. Full on berserker Wolverine (finally) and more f-bombs than Lebowski.

— Eric Vespe (@EricVespe) December 11, 2016

Just saw the first 40 minutes of James Mangold’s LOGAN and it’s fucking fantastic. Now expecting this to be the best X-Men movie.

— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) December 11, 2016

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much talk about X-23 or her role. I know I’ll personally be disappointed if she’s just a quiet, helpless child through most of the film, and I wish the early buzz had given me more reason to hope otherwise. However, it looks like Logan will at least deliver on the epic, gruff machismo, and that means Wolverine gets to go out in the most Wolverine way possible.

(Via ScreenRant, image via screencap)

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