Hmmm, well this is an interesting revelation. For anyone wondering why Disney doesn’t just crap out ‘The New Mutants’ for free on either Hulu or Disney+, the way it did ‘Artemis Fowl’, the reason is… it can’t.
Director Josh Boone told Collider:
“With most movies, you sign contracts that guarantee a theatrical release, so it needs to open to ever go digital in the first place. We just, too, would like to see people to see it in the theater. But it needs to obviously be at the right time when it’s safe to go back.”
‘The New Mutants’ was filmed in 2017, before 20th Century Fox (now known as 20th Century Studios) was bought by Disney. The movie, directed by Boone, was part of the studio’s ‘X-Men’ franchise, but with a horror twist. After filming, the picture sat on the shelf for two years, until Disney bought Fox last year. It was known that reshoots were needed, but even though people automatically jump to a negative conclusion when they hear that, literally EVERY movie needs reshoots. That’s normal. But it never got them. But the knowledge that it needed reshoots and the fact that it has sat on the shelf for three years leads most to assume that ‘The New Mutants’ is garbage.
Yet through it all, the studio has remained adamant that ‘The New Mutants’ would open in theaters. That would seemingly imply that the movie is actually good. And to be honest, the trailers have looked good to me. (Just me? Maybe.)
Honestly, make of this what you will. The trailers for ‘The New Mutants’ don’t look bad at all. I’m intrigued by the idea of an ‘X-Men’ horror film.
If it was truly ‘Artemis Fowl’ bad, Disney could have opened it in two theaters for one weekend and then sent this to Hulu. So I’m going to stay optimistic and hope this will be worth the wait. Call me a sucker.
Will you check out ‘The New Mutants’ when it opens in theaters? As of right now, it is set to debut on August 28.
