When Fox pushed New Mutants back a few months ago, it raised some eyebrows among fans, now it might be time to be worried about the X-Men spin-off. Today, the studio announced that they would be delaying the release of the film for the second time, as well as delaying the release of X-Men: Dark Phoenix by around three months.
There’s no real reason to be concerned about the X-Men film as it looks like the move might actually make sense. The new release date of February 2019, puts the film into a slot that has done well in the past for comic book films like Black Panther and Deadpool. Meanwhile, Rami Malek’s Freddie Mercury biopic that was directed by Bryan Singer (until he was fired a couple weeks before the end of shooting), is moving from its Christmas Day release to X-Men’s old slot. It looks like this benefits both films and it could be a sign that Bohemian Rhapsody might not have what it takes to compete on the busy holiday weekend. As it stands now, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is set for a February 14, 2019, release.
The story around New Mutants could be a much different situation. Having already been moved back almost a year, the film has now been booted from April 13, 2018, until August 19, 2019. There’s no explanation for the move, but the constant delays are almost starting to look like the studio may decide to shelve the film or seek a streaming network release instead of going theatrical.