The New Mutants Was Inspired By Early Wes Craven Movies

Who would’ve thought that The New Mutants – a dark and brooding X-Men spinoff sentenced to development limbo for the past three years – would be touted as a potential trilogy-starter.

And yet, that’s exactly what co-writer and director Josh Boone told Collider (h/t Bloody Disgusting), who today dropped their 2017 set report, which is filled with exciting tidbits.

Chief among them being the fact that Boone is drawing influence from early Wes Craven movies, The Shining and even Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors for The New Mutants. And while it’s been tethered to a PG-13 rating, the filmmaker also promised to deliver an intense comic book movie experience in the vein of The Dark Knight.

Via Collider:

I’d say [the] biggest influences for this movie were [One Flew Over the] Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining and Dream Warriors. I do love Dream Warriors, I loved the first [Nightmare on Elm Street] as well, but this is very much a rubber reality horror movie for the first about 75% of the movie and then it becomes something else. It follows the logic of those early Wes Craven movies and all that.

It is, of course, important to realize that these comments were made back in 2017, long before Disney swooped in to acquire 20th Century Fox and all of its precious assets. That means there’s a very good chance that Boone’s creative vision has changed – or at the very least tweaked – at the behest of Disney, given there’ve been reports of The New Mutants potentially tying into the MCU if it proves to be a success, even if the film’s poster suggests otherwise.

One thing’s for sure: Josh Boone and his team pushed the PG-13 rating close to breaking point, creating what he describes as a supernatural horror movie.

It’s a supernatural horror movie. I’d say this is pushed as far as you could push a PG 13. We’ve pushed stuff as far as we could push it.

The New Mutants will finally – finally! – see the warm light of day on April 3rd.