Superhero fans were given quite the welcomed surprise this morning, when 20th Century Fox's Logan received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. The nomination was the first ever for writer-director James Mangold, and his co-writer Michael Green, although the third writer, Scott Frank, was previously nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for his 1998 Elmore Leonard adaptation Out of Sight. After the news was announced this morning, Hugh Jackman took to Twitter to deliver some heartfelt praise for the filmmaker after getting his first ever Oscar nod. Here's what Hugh Jackman had to say on social media earlier today.
"If Hollywood kept statistics for the most assists in nominations/awards ... @mang0ld would be the league leader. Today, he finally got the recognition he deserves. Congrats brother! @WolverineMovie #Logan #Wolverine #Oscars2018"
For those who have followed his exceptional career, many might be surprised that this is James Mangold's first Oscar nomination. After all, he has directed two actors to their Oscar wins, Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted and Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, with Joaquin Phoenix also nominated for his performance in Walk The Line as well. James Mangold responded to Hugh Jackman's tweet shortly thereafter, thanking the Wolverine actor for guiding them through the writing process.
"Anything's possible when the work comes from a team joined at the hip, Hugh. You made this movie happen and protected and guided us with your brilliant performance and profound faith."
On a more humorous note, actor Stephen Merchant, who played the mutant Caliban in Logan, stated that there were a few times on the set where he had to change his lines because he couldn't remember them, so he's considering himself an Oscar nominee as well. All jokes aside, though, Logan's Best Adapted Screenplay nomination is quite a big deal, since most superhero movies only get nominated for the technical categories like visual effects and makeup and hairstyling, which Suicide Squad won for last year. Heath Ledger's posthumous Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight is one of the few exceptions where a superhero movie won a major award at the Oscars, and now with Logan being recognized for its screenplay, it could open the door for even more superhero Oscar nominations.
Logan will be facing Call Me By Your Name (James Ivory), The Disaster Artist (Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber), Molly's Game (Aaron Sorkin) and Mudbound (Dee Rees, Virgil Williams) in the Best Adapted Screenplay Category, with Call Me By Your Name already considered a front runner by many box office prognosticators. Logan has become the rare Oscar nominee that is also a box office hit, earning $226.2 million at the domestic box office and $616.7 million worldwide, from a $97 million budget. Those figures are even more impressive when you factor in the movie's R rating as well. Take a look at what the Logan star had to say, via Hugh Jackman Twitter, along with tweets from James Mangold, Scott Frank, a cryptic tweet from Michael Green, and Stephen Merchant.