While the impending acquisition of 20th Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company appears to have nixed a number of Fox’s planned Marvel projects such as Gambit and X-Force, it’s also raised serious questions about the fate of one that’s already in the can – the X-Men spinoff The New Mutants.
Shot back in 2017 and originally slated for release in April of last year, the film was initially pushed back to February 2019 amid rumours that Fox was unhappy with director Josh Boone’s cut, and would be looking to “overhaul” it by reshooting up to 50% of the film.
A second delay of a further six months was announced in March 2018, and with the reshoots yet to take place and Disney’s takeover set to complete in the coming weeks, there has been talk – supported by producer Lauren Shuler Donner – that New Mutants could be pulled from its theatrical release on August 2nd, and perhaps debut directly on a streaming service such as Hulu.
Well, thanks to THR, we now have a brief update, with the trade reporting that reshoots are no longer planned, with the movie now said to be in the hands of Boone (who was apparently pleased with his original cut). However, it’s said that Disney may well opt against a theatrical release, and while that is yet to be confirmed, a “safe bet” would be that the movie will premiere on the upcoming Disney+ streaming platform.
So, it appears that the status of The New Mutants remains very much up in the air, but it is expected that we’ll get to see the movie somewhere, at some point. Maybe. Hopefully we’ll get some solid info on Disney’s plans for the film once the Fox acquisition is done and dusted.
The New Mutants is directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars), and features a cast includes Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) as Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) as Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, Henry Zaga (13 Reasons Why) as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, Blu Hunt (The Originals) as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage and Alice Braga (Queen of the South) as Dr. Cecilia Reyes.
Originally published March 4, 2019. Updated December 6, 2022.
