The Shape Of Water Was Originally Pitched As A Black And White Movie Could We See That Version On Home Video

‘The Shape Of Water’ Was Originally Pitched As A Black And White Movie; Could We See That Version On Home Video?

By Ben Pearson/Nov. 30, 2017 12:30 pm EST

“I was a bit nervous about the black and white, because color is such a strong element that you can play with in a story or movie to help shape the mood. When people see the movie, they comment a lot on the color, so I’m glad we went that way.”

Though I think the colors in The Shape of Water give the movie its soul, part of me was still curious: might we see a The Shape of Water black and white cut on home video, in the vein of recent movies like Mad Mad: Fury Road or Logan? But later in the EW piece, del Toro seems to reject that notion by revealing that his black and white pitch was purely a strategic move on his part and never something he legitimately intended to do:

“To be disarmingly and horribly honest, it was a pawn sacrifice. It was one of those things that I knew I was not really interested in, but I knew I needed to appear reasonable. ‘Oh, Guillermo. He’s such a nice guy. He gave up black and white.’”

For more about The Shape of Water, be sure to read Chris Evangelista’s review from the Toronto International Film Festival, find out how the creature was made, and check out my transcription of a recent Q&A in which del Toro, Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Richard Jenkins, and more revealed some intriguing highlights about making the movie.

The Shape of Water arrives in theaters in New York on December 1, 2017 and expands wider in subsequent weeks.