Will audiences ever get to see “The New Mutants?”
Obviously, Fox has committed a large amount of money and time to the project, and it would take something catastrophic for the studio to completely erase the film from its release schedule. However, at the rate its going now, it doesn’t feel like we’ll ever see the film’s release. Especially considering Fox just announced that “The New Mutants,” superhero film “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” and several other films are seeing their release dates shuffle, yet again.
READ MORE: Anya Taylor-Joy Admits ‘The New Mutants’ Delay Is “Frustrating”
It’s hard to believe at this point, but “The New Mutants” was originally scheduled to be released in a few weeks, on April 13, 2018. The studio even mentioned an April release in the film’s first teaser trailer, last year. But now, after “The New Mutants” was already pushed back to February 22, 2019, the film is getting a brand-new release date, August 2, 2019. This is after it was recently announced that Fox is going back to film extensive reshoots, that is to include a completely new character. Star Anya-Taylor Joy, in our recent interview, called the initial release date change “frustrating.” She’s probably not any happier with this latest news.
“X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” which was supposed to be released in the fall, was also moved back, landing on a February 14, 2019. The release date shuffle for ‘Dark Phoenix’ is also surprising because Fox had begun its early marketing campaign, with the film landing the cover of Entertainment Weekly in December 2017. ‘Dark Phoenix,’ the sequel to 2016’s horrible “X-Men: Apocalypse” sees long-time producer, and “X-Men” film architect, Simon Kinberg step behind the camera for his directorial debut.
Another movie to see its release date move around is the highly-anticipated Freddie Mercury biopic, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” However, unlike the superhero films, this project is moving forward from December 25 to November 2, 2018. ‘Rhapsody’ has recently been in the news due to some behind-the-scenes drama involving director Bryan Singer, who was eventually replaced by Dexter Fletcher. It looks like that change has worked, with production back on track and the film being ready just a tad bit earlier.
Director James Mangold’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated “Logan,” a gritty, cop-drama titled “The Force,” is seeing its release date of March 1, 2019 completely removed, with no date to replace, which is a shame. That film was shaping up to be something pretty great, and we were excited for its release. Other films to see their release dates alter are “The Kid Who Would Be King” (February 14, 2019), “Breakthrough” (April 12, 2019), and “Spies in Disguise” (January 18, 2019).
We would be remiss to mention that mid-2019 is probably going to be the time that the Fox/Disney deal is finalized, barring any objections from the government or other outside forces. While these release date changes probably have little to do with that merger, it’ll be interesting to see how a superhero film like “The New Mutants” is affected by the merger. Will this be the first “X-Men” film released under the new Fox/Disney?
Or perhaps they’ll just push it back to 2020.
