Though it may have verged on wishful thinking some months ago, Logan is now officially an Oscar-nominee. And so too is The Boss Baby…
In all seriousness, the fact that James Mangold’s R-rated masterstroke has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay is a true watershed moment for superhero films, and proof that the Academy is now beginning to stand up and take notice of a genre that is fast beginning to mature before our very eyes.
Competing against four Oscar-tipped heavyweights in Call Me By Your Name, The Disaster Artist, Molly’s Game and Mudbound, Fox’s standalone X-Men movie has its work cut out if it’s to really make history when the lights go down on March 4th, but as Hugh Jackman has already stressed, Logan is a record-breaker in its own right.
And now, James Mangold, who penned the screenplay alongside Michael Green and Scott Frank, has weighed in on the historic achievement:
It speaks to the idea that people are opening up to all genres to look for creative invention and I’m thrilled that people saw it in the work that Scott Frank, Michael Green and I did.
As for how Logan wrote its name into the history books, Mangold told the Los Angeles Times that the decision to double down on “character-driven” drama was enough to smash any pre-conceived notions that superhero movies (and comic book films, overall) are mindless, CG-laden spectacles.
On this film, we really focused on doing something different: a dramatic and character-driven film rather than trying to compete in the arms race of comic-book films… ‘I can spend more than you, I can blow up more than you.’ We wanted to make a film that operated on the character engine and emotion.
Because make no mistake, all eyes in the film industry will be trained on the 90th Academy Awards ceremony when Jimmy Kimmel takes to the stage on Sunday, March 4th. And we’ll have our fingers (and toes!) crossed in the hope that Logan makes history – if it hasn’t already.