The Untold Truth Of 2017’s Logan

For 20th Century Fox, the “X-Men” franchise was a profitable venture, as the film series brought in over $6 billion at the box office worldwide. Most of this success was achieved in the realm of PG-13 since the studio understood this is the kind of franchise that Mom, Dad, Little Jimmy, and Little Suzie can all watch together at their local theater. Then “Deadpool” arrived and dropkicked the status quo by releasing a highly profitable R-rated movie, but there were still questions about Wolverine following suit here. Surely, it would be the equivalent of leaving money on the table, right?

“Logan” producer, Hutch Parker, revealed to Slashfilm that conversations about the film’s controversial rating predated “Deadpool.” However, it wasn’t as simple as asking and receiving a yes from the studio. “You know, it would probably be a better story if I said yes,” Parker said. “But the truth is, no. The studio, they certainly had questions, but from early days — particularly Emma Watts, who was a big champion of the project, as was Steve Asbell, actually, the two of them — it was always about how do we tell the story correctly?”

As Parker explained, the parties realized the R rating would be needed to achieve what they wanted from a storytelling perspective and the green light eventually came. In the end, it proved to be the smartest decision since “Logan” became the highest-grossing film in the “Wolverine” trilogy.

For 20th Century Fox, the “X-Men” franchise was a profitable venture, as the film series brought in over $6 billion at the box office worldwide. Most of this success was achieved in the realm of PG-13 since the studio understood this is the kind of franchise that Mom, Dad, Little Jimmy, and Little Suzie can all watch together at their local theater. Then “Deadpool” arrived and dropkicked the status quo by releasing a highly profitable R-rated movie, but there were still questions about Wolverine following suit here. Surely, it would be the equivalent of leaving money on the table, right?

“Logan” producer, Hutch Parker, revealed to Slashfilm that conversations about the film’s controversial rating predated “Deadpool.” However, it wasn’t as simple as asking and receiving a yes from the studio. “You know, it would probably be a better story if I said yes,” Parker said. “But the truth is, no. The studio, they certainly had questions, but from early days — particularly Emma Watts, who was a big champion of the project, as was Steve Asbell, actually, the two of them — it was always about how do we tell the story correctly?”

As Parker explained, the parties realized the R rating would be needed to achieve what they wanted from a storytelling perspective and the green light eventually came. In the end, it proved to be the smartest decision since “Logan” became the highest-grossing film in the “Wolverine” trilogy.