New Mutants Delay Reportedly Caused By Substantial Reshoots

 

Earlier today, we reported that Josh Boone’s The New Mutants, based on the Marvel Comics title of the same name, was being delayed again to August 2nd, 2019. At the time, reports were indicating the move was caused, in part, by X-Men: Dark Phoenix taking its former February 22nd release date, but new information suggests the entire schedule was upended due to both films requiring reshoots.
According to Collider, the reshoots for Dark Phoenix require the participation of a number of cast members whose busy schedules will not allow them to arrive on set until August or September, giving the film precious little time to complete post-production. But the situation with The New Mutants appears to be far more dire, with the additional production block expected to reshoot “at least 50% of the movie” and adding another character to the team of at-risk mutant teens.
As always, the issue appears to be tone, with 20th Century Fox expecting a film far scarier than what Boone reportedly delivered. As the site puts it, “Fox wants this movie to stand out as tonally distinct the same way Logan and Deadpool did.” Since the get-go, the film has been positioned as a horror film within the X-Men cinematic milieu — just look at the first teaser to confirm that — but, perhaps, Boone delivered a horror movie more in the vein of Fox’s Omen series than. say, a teen slasher flick.
Which, when you think about it, slashing New Mutants would be a tremendous waste of characters.
Of course, this wouldn’t be Fox’s only reported run-in with reshoot woes. Deadpool 2‘s reshoots were allegedly set into motion after a disastrous test screening. A number of sites were quick to dismiss the notion as reshoots are more common in tent-pole filmmaking, though. Additionally, by setting a release date before a film is even completely cast creates a time crunch which can lead to films like New Mutants needing more space to find the right tone, but suffering a poorer perception because of the delay.
The New Mutants opens on August 2nd 2019.