Originally published September 1, 2019. Updated November 25, 2019.
The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone’s X-Men spinoff The New Mutants has certainly proven a headache for 20th Century Fox, and it’s one the studio has since passed on to Disney following the studio’s acquisition by the Mouse House earlier this year.
Shot in the summer of 2017, The New Mutants was delayed twice by Fox, with the studio said to be disappointed by Boone’s vision and planning a retooling of the project which would have required extensive reshoots to at least half of the movie. These reshoots are yet to happen however, and seem unlikely to do so either now that Disney is in control and still reeling from Fox’s last X-Men project Dark Phoenix , which tanked at the box office leaving Disney with a loss of more than $100 million.
Amid speculation that the film would be dumped straight to a streaming service like Disney+ or Hulu, Disney pushed back the release of The New Mutants to April 2020, and – in the wake of reports that Disney is “unimpressed” by Boone’s cut – a new rumour has now emerged which claims that Disney and Marvel Studios are currently working on their own edit of the existing material.
According to FandomWire, this new cut is said to be more in line with the original “horror-esque” plans for the movie, while Disney and Marvel are said to have intentionally removed any references and ties to Fox’s wider X-Men franchise, giving Marvel’s Kevin Feige the opportunity to bring this version of the New Mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe should he later decide to do so.
Assuming this unconfirmed report is legitimate, it does of course remain to be seen whether Disney and Marvel will be able to salvage The New Mutants without forking out for costly reshoots, which frankly seem unfeasible now some two years on from principal photography. Is it even worth the effort to try and save the film at this point? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
X-Men: 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.
