There is a distinct possibility that Josh Boone’s ‘X-Men’ spin-off ‘New Mutants’ will never see the light of day, as 20th Century Fox continues to hemorrhage money after being bought out by Disney. Within the last few months, Disney has released three movies that were essentially made entirely by Fox before the merger and they have been disasters.
Most blatantly, there was ‘Dark Phoenix’ a.k.a. ‘X-Men Dark Phoenix’, the final flame-out of a once-successful film franchise. It is believed that ‘Dark Phoenix’ will bleed out $170 million. Add to that whatever was lost on the comedy flop ‘Stuber’ starring Dave Bautista and this past weekend’s ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’, a modestly-budgeted tearjerker that only took in $8 million.
As for ‘New Mutants’, Disney is reportedly “unimpressed,” according to a lengthy write-up by Variety, examining the current turmoil at Fox. While this wasn’t targeted at ‘New Mutants’ specifically, an insider states that Disney is forcing directors who are asking for reshoots to “submit rigorous storyboards to justify the additional expenses.”
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‘New Mutants’ needs reshoots. We already know that. We’ve known it for a while now. The film wrapped shooting on September 16, 2017. That was almost TWO years ago, and the movie isn’t finished because, according to some, up to 50% of the movie needs to be reshot! That may be a huge exaggeration. But even if half the movie doesn’t need to be redone, SOME of it does and it’s enough that ‘New Mutants’ as it presently exists apparently can’t be released.
Here’s the thing… I’m not sure how much interest in a live-action ‘New Mutants’ movie existed even back in 2015 when this project first started to come together and there was no Disney buyout anywhere on the horizon. At best, this might have been a fun side excursion. At this point… just put it out of its misery. It was never going to be a blockbuster. At best, it would only make a tiny fraction of what ‘Dark Phoenix’ did… except, oh right, it didn’t make any money, it LOST $170 million.
Besides, what are the odds that Josh Boone can reunite the cast all in one place at the same time? The director himself has moved on to tackle CBS All Access’ ambitious miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’, with one of his ‘New Mutants’ cast members, Henry Zaga set to co-star. Blu Hunt can be seen in Netflix’s new sci-fi series ‘Another Life’ and in the upcoming ABC action-comedy ‘Stumptown’. Anya Taylor-Joy will be heard on Netflix’s ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ and seen in the latest film adaptation of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’. Charlie Heaton was just in ‘Stranger Things 3’, and there are rumors that Season 4 will begin filming this year to be released in 2020. Maisie Williams is set to star in her own comedy series ‘Two Weeks to Live’ on Sky. Maybe fans, like the cast, should move on.
Do you still want to see the finished ‘New Mutants’ film?
