You may have heard this one before, but The New Mutants is tentatively penciled in to arrive in theaters next month. Of course, this sentence has been written many times since the X-Men spinoff was first scheduled for April 2018, with the tortured production being hit by constant setbacks that have seen it labeled as cursed.
Just when Fox’s last hurrah at the helm of the mutant franchise was set to finally be released, the Coronavirus pandemic came along and plunged the world into chaos, and it was almost fittingly one of the first movies removed from the calendar. Ever since it was accidentally listed for pre-order on Amazon, fans have been speculating that The New Mutants might end up skipping cinemas altogether and heading straight for digital, with Disney Plus rumored as the most likely destination. However, the movie is still approaching its fifth and possibly final release date, so fingers crossed that a project that first wrapped back in September 2017 will finally escape from cinematic purgatory.
In a recent interview, director Josh Boone explained why The New Mutants was always planned for a theatrical release, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the reason why is largely a contractual one.
“With most movies, you sign contracts that guarantee a theatrical release, so it needs to open to ever go digital in the first place. We just, too, would like to see people to see it in the theater. But it needs to obviously be at the right time when it’s safe to go back.”
Even though Disney are now handling distribution through the recently-renamed 20th Century Studios following their takeover of Fox, it sounds as though all of the previous contracts with the movie’s former owners still need to be honored. And as much as fans would like to see it on Disney Plus, should things pan out as expected, there’s only a few weeks to go until The New Mutants debuts on the big screen. Although, based on its history, more problems definitely can’t be ruled out just yet.