The Fox/Disney Deal, The Mutant Movie Rumors, and The Reality
Just a few days ago, some shareholders for Fox and Disney met up and looked over the deal to purchase 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. There has been a tug of war between Disney and Comcast over the last few months for the media company’s swath of properties.
However, the shareholders approved the deal. The Fox/Disney deal will now go through and will close at the beginning of 2019.
With the deal going forward, it’s very likely that the Fantastic 4 and the X-Men will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future. However, with that possibility there have been some fears about the current X-Men and Mutant franchises, namely X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, and what might happen to them.
The World of Wild Speculation
There has been a lot of speculation concerning the acquisition and what it would mean for the mutant teams going forward. With films like X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants slated for release, the talks have put doubts in the minds of some fans.
Enter the world of online forums and insider information.
An “insider” by the screen name Slugzilla, claims to be a low-level employee for Fox. Slugzilla claims to have worked on The New Mutants film prior to Josh Boone being named as director. The user states that X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants movies were scrapped from theatrical release. They also state that Gambit isn’t on track for any sort of release, and the X-23 film isn’t in the works, and Disney was already involved in the Fox/Marvel films.
The user asserts that test screenings of The New Mutants were “abysmal” and beyond saving. As for X-Men: Dark Phoenix they declared it was was boring and the cast seemed uninterested. The claims even went as far as to suggest that the films were more suited for a streaming or home video release as the Marvel Cinematic Universe wanted to distance itself from the current X-Men franchise.
This “insider” also claimed that Mr. Sinister was never part of The New Mutants, Marvel Studios already had plans for Silver Surfer and Galactus, and X-Force was going to be retitled as Deadpool 3: X-Force with some of The New Mutants joining the team. They also claimed the upcoming Eternals movie would somehow introduce mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A Different Perspective
This comes in conflict with other reports just last month that The New Mutants and X-Men: Dark Phoenix showcased trailers at CineEurope. The New Mutants had a largely positive response, and the only reshoots Fox execs deemed necessary were to really dig into the horror aspects of the film.
Regarding the X-Men: Dark Phoenix teaser Kinemetro states:
“The fantastic action thriller Dark Phoenix looks better than expected. At the presentation, this new trailer was shown, getting rid of excessive gloom of the teaser and clearly positioning the project as a direct continuation of the X-Men.”
So why would they scrap projects that they’ve already dumped a truckload of money into? Add to that, they seemingly have some positive test audience reactions?
The Real News Comes Out
IMAX gave investors a slated release schedule for their 2019 movies in their quarterly earnings report. In it, we see X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants with releases on February 14, 2019 and August 2, 2019 respectively.
This bit of news altogether debunks the rumors that have been swirling on the internet forums over the weekend. It also reassures fans of the film that the projects are still on track for theatrical release, despite the Disney acquisition of Fox’s entertainment properties.
What are you hoping for in the X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants? Do you think it would have been better to have the projects scrapped? What changes do you think Disney will bring to the mutant world? What changes do you think the mutant world will bring to the MCU? Sound off in the comments below, or let’s talk about it on social media!
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