Although there are certainly exceptions to the rule, Hollywood is typically hesitant to invest a great deal of money in R-rated features when a PG-13 will put many more butts in the seats. Although DEADPOOL proved that an R-rated superhero flick could be a huge success, you need to take into account that its budget was fairly small, especially when compared to typical blockbuster fare. Hugh Jackman and James Mangold had long hoped to film Jackman's final film as Wolverine with an R-rating in mind, but in order for 20th Century Fox to sign off on that R-rating, it had to make due with a little less cash.
During the recent Butt-Numb-A-Thon film marathon, James Mangold revealed where the budget was cut and it turns out that Hugh Jackman volunteered to take a pay cut in order to bring the budget down to an amount that Fox was comfortable with. Judging by the reaction to the forty-minutes of LOGAN which recently screened at the Fox Showcase, I think we all owe Jackman a big thank you.
LOGAN will hit theaters on March 3, 2017.