Despite being ignored at D23, Fox’s New Mutants is reportedly still moving forward and currently undergoing test screenings. Last week’s D23 Expo in Anaheim was full of big movie reveals, from the first Jungle Cruise footage being unveiled to Disney pulling the curtain back on its next animated feature, Raya and the Last Dragon. However, the event skipped over highlighting the upcoming Fox releases, like Ford v. Ferrari and James Cameron’s first Avatar sequel. Also noticeably absent was New Mutants, the perennially-delayed X-Men spinoff and last of Fox’s Marvel projects.
Directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars), New Mutants is tentatively scheduled to arrive next April, but has yet to begin its marketing under Disney’s watch. More recently, it was reported the Mouse House’s executives aren’t impressed with the movie, leaving fans to wonder if the studio will simply scrap its release altogether. Now, fresh claims of New Mutants test screenings suggest the film may yet see the light of day after all.
Both Discussing Film Editor-in-Chief Jacob Fisher and Geeks Worldwide’s Thomas Polito have gotten wind of New Mutants test screenings taking place recently. More than that, the pair are reporting that early word of mouth for the film is pretty decent. You can check out their tweets on the subject below.
New Mutants is based on the X-Men spinoff comics books created by Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod, and revolves around five young mutants being held against their will in a secret facility. Boone had initially pitched the film as a horror movie set in the X-Men universe, but Fox’s executives pushed New Mutants towards being more of a conventional superhero adventure during production. However, the film’s Fall 2017 teaser was cut to focus on its scarier elements (following the success of IT) and was generally well-received by audiences. In response, Fox ordered reshoots to bring New Mutants closer to Boone’s original vision and delayed it from April 2018 to February and then August 2019. Unfortunately, due to a combination of conflicting schedules and Disney’s purchase of Fox’s entertainment assets, the reshoots have yet to take place and New Mutants has shifted back yet again to 2020.
Assuming the reports of test screenings are accurate, it seems Disney and Fox are now planning to skip the New Mutants reshoots altogether and simply recut the previously-shot footage to bring it more in line with Boone’s horror movie idea. It’s possible additional pickup shoots will be held prior to the film’s release, but at this stage Disney is unlikely to spend more money on finishing the film than necessary. And even if the Mouse House does, in fact, release New Mutants, it could end up going straight to Hulu if the studio decides these test screening reactions aren’t strong enough to justify a theatrical run. Still, at this point, it’s nice to know New Mutants actually exists and is finally being shown to people.
Source: Discussing Film, Geeks Worldwide
- New Mutants Release Date: 2020-08-28
