Not for the first time, we’re hearing that X-Men: Dark Phoenix has fared poorly at Fox’s planned test screenings, with sources close to The DisInsider even going so far as to say that the long-gestating superhero flick is irredeemable. Like, on par with Josh Trank’s ill-fated Fantastic Four movie. Yikes.
Word is 20th Century Fox conducted another round of test screenings late last week, where a bunch of people were invited to watch a vertical slice of Dark Phoenix prior to its June release date. And, well, the reactions speak for themselves, really; while Fox still has some time to turn things around, the Simon Kinberg-directed film appears to be in pretty bad shape, and is unlikely to top the much-maligned Apocalypse the way things are going.
Via Twitter:
Another X-Men: Dark Phoenix test screening, and guess what?
I now have talked to 6 people who all went to 3 different test screenings and all of them have told me the screenings were BAD. pic.twitter.com/HC8TT7XiRE
— Skyler Shuler (@SkylerShuler) January 23, 2019
If The DisInsider’s report is on-point, and these reactions were taken from three different test screenings for X-Men: Dark Phoenix, then things aren’t looking too good for the 2019 blockbuster. There is, of course, still a sliver of hope that Fox will course-correct the movie in post, or that the reports coming out of these test screenings aren’t as bad as everyone fears. Time will tell, really, but with so much negativity beginning to engulf Dark Phoenix, Kinberg and Co. will need to pull a rabbit from the hat if they’re to turn doubters into believers.
As things stand, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is scheduled for release June 7th, 2019, and let’s just say that Fox faces an uphill struggle if it’s to salvage anything from Simon Kinberg’s summer tentpole. That’s just our opinion, though.
What do you think? Do you believe there’s still hope for the latest X-movie? Let us know your thoughts, comments and concerns in the usual place.
