Reshoots – nobody’s favorite word. It’s typically a bad sign when a movie needs extensive reshoots, and its even worse when those reshoots actually push back its release date. For 20th Century Fox, this is doubly bad news, as reshoot delays are happening to not one, but two of their upcoming movies: The New Mutants and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
According to Collider, the films are being delayed for two different reasons. X-Men: Dark Phoenix underwent the usually screening process in order to figure out what works and what didn’t. Of course, with it’s cast of A-list stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender (both of whom surprisingly came back even though their contracts were officially up), scheduling issues arose. As such, the film, due to premiere in November 2018, will now make its way to theaters February 2019. All in all, not too much to worry about at this point.
New Mutants is where things get dicey. The film was already delayed once more, in order to make it scarier. This second delay is looking for the same thing, with at least 50% of the movie needing to be re-shot and adding in new characters. Director Josh Boone, who was happy with the second cut of the film, has reportedly had creative differences with the higher ups on this film, but is staying on the project for the time being.
This, as I am sure you’ve guessed, does not point to anything good for the film. If the material is so unscary that it’s been sent back twice, and with major changes, there might be something wrong beyond scripting and performances. One has to wonder if, at this rate, New Mutants is going to see the light of day. There is a new release date on the project, so there’s no need to abandon hope just yet.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is set to premiere in theaters on February 14, 2019. The New Mutants is set to debut on August 2, 2019.