The Shape of Water, the new film by Guillermo del Toro, was almost filmed in black and white before the budget was changed.
The Shape of Water is turning out to be one of the year’s big awards favourites, particularly for best picture and best director.
The dark fantasy romance was originally going to be shot in black and white according to production designer Paul Austerberry, providing the film with even more a of a classic monster movie feel.
Speaking to EW, Austerberry revealed that the film was pitched in black and white to Fox Searchlight, making the film cheaper to produce, but the studio decided to up the budget, therefore allowing for colour:
“When it was in black and white, the budget was $12 million. And then Fox Searchlight said, ‘You know, if you make it color, we’ll make it $19.6 million.’ We were struggling at even $19.6 million to get it all down, so thankfully it went that way.”
While some will surely be thinking how nice it would have been to see the film in black and white, Austerberry certainly sounds relieved that Fox provided that extra budget.
SEE ALSO: Watch the final trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water
From master storyteller, Guillermo del Toro, comes THE SHAPE OF WATER – an other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.
The Shape of Water is set for release on December 8th.
