20th Century Fox’s slate of X-Men movies has officially been reshuffled. And not for the first time.
Earlier this morning, we brought you the news that both X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Josh Boone’s horror-tinged spinoff, The New Mutants, had relocated, with the latter now expected to hit theaters on August 2nd, 2019 – 16 months later than first scheduled.
For Dark Phoenix, it’s a little different. While the Simon Kinberg-directed blockbuster was originally on course to arrive in November, the Powers That Be have delayed the cosmic adventure until February 14th, 2019, where it will open in close proximity to Hellboy and M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass. That’s disappointing in and of itself, though we’re now learning that 20th Century Fox is bracing for extensive reshoots across both productions.
Sources close to ComicBook.com suggest both Dark Phoenix and New Mutants have been earmarked for heavy reshoots following today’s double postponement. The former will allegedly involve multiple weeks’ worth of additional photography, leading many to believe that the Skrulls will be shoehorned in, after all.
The New Mutants, on the other hand, is expected to make room for an additional character (Warlock, we assume), all the while doubling down on the horror elements that help separate Josh Boone’s spinoff from the pack.
And so, to recap, once the untitled Deadpool 2 sees a release in May, Fox’s X-Men slate will lay dormant until February 14th, 2019, at which point Simon Kinberg will be ready to launch an X-Men: Dark Phoenix movie that presumably has zero traces of Bryan Singer, whose record has been raked over the coals in light of those damning allegations involving sexual harassment and alleged rape. Perhaps Singer’s involvement is the reason behind this four-month delay and those subsequent reshoots, as Fox looks to remove his name from the masthead? It’s impossible to know for sure at this early stage.
Beyond that, The New Mutants will finally be drafted into theaters on August 2nd, 2019, which is actually two months after the launch date currently earmarked for Channing Tatum’s ill-fated Gambit movie. As such, don’t be too surprised if and when Remy LeBeau is knocked further down Fox’s release slate.