New Mutants director Josh Boone says it’s only “up” after Dark Phoenix
By Eric Bartsch
Josh Boone isn’t worried about New Mutants and took a shot at Dark Phoenix to make his point.
The New Mutants has been delayed enough times to cast serious doubts on its chances in theaters, at the least. But Josh Boone, director of the last of 20th Century Fox’s cycle of X-Men films, is optimistic.
He feels he has good reason when the act he and all involved follow is Dark Phoenix. Calling it “one of the worst-reviewed movies of last year,” when speaking with Empire (via Digital Spy), Boone conveyed he is convinced his movie will do better than the abysmal flop of 2019.
“Look, you can only go up after Dark Phoenix,” he said, adding he has nothing against the people who made it. “That’s not to say anything bad about the people involved, but it was what it was.”
Dark Phoenix was written and directed by the contrite first-timer Simon Kinberg. It is the lowest-grossing of the X-Men franchise and has a 23% score among critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Meant for release before its predecessor at certain points, New Mutants is in the middle of its fourth delay. Slated originally for 2018, it kept getting pushed back long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, Boone’s confidence is boosted by the time granted in light of delays to test the film.
“Honestly, I feel less pressure now than I did ahead of [the first slated release date],” said Boone, having seen positive reactions firsthand. “Because we’ve tested our movie so many times, and audiences have loved it.”
Time will tell if those test screenings will translate to theaters worldwide or wherever The New Mutants is released. Disney’s acquisition of Fox placed the film on the shelf even longer but then the owner of everything Marvel – aside from Spider-Man’s film rights – gave their “blessing” and set the date for April.
Next. The New Mutants director reveals the truth about the reshoots. dark
COVID-19 has caused lockdowns and shutdowns across the board so Disney is exercising caution and shelving New Mutants and Mulan for the time being. Other films are being postponed while others – Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey and Bloodshot to name a few – are being released on digital early.
New release dates have not been announced.