‘The New Mutants’ Listed On Dolby Vision Release Slate
After speculation that Fox’s final Marvel spin-off before their acquisition by Disney (The New Mutants) was going to be sent straight to Hulu, it looks like the film may actually get a theatrical run after all.
As the story goes, director Josh Boone’s The New Mutants was slated to be released last April. The initial teaser that Fox released promised a darker film than what they had apparently shot (and one closer in tone to the movie that Boone originally wanted to make). Fox, confident that they could make their movie scarier after seeing how well IT ended up doing, decided to delay the movie to let Boone make his film scarier. But due to the filming schedules of Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) and Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things), who were hard at work on new seasons of their big shows, planning reshoots was a logistical nightmare.
A huge delay happened to accommodate for their schedules, and since then, there’s been a conspicuous amount of radio silence from Fox about the status of the project. This even led to some rumors that the film was going to be outright cancelled – something that wasn’t helped by the likelihood that it would be the last Fox-produced X-Men movie before Disney’s acquisition of the company put the Marvel rights with Marvel Studios. Later, more reputable rumors suggested that sending the film to a streaming service like Hulu would be a more likely option, and that the reshoots that raised a fuss at Fox never actually ended up happening – and likely wouldn’t have, since Boone is now busy with other projects, and this movie has no chance of getting a sequel due to Disney-Fox setting the stage for a complete reboot of the entire X-Men franchise.
But yesterday, at CinemaCon, there was something that popped up that suggested that a theatrical release for the film is something that could be on the cards after all. Apparently, the movie will see a release in a Dolby Cinema format, which is traditionally a theatrical option:
Hmm New Mutants was mentioned during the Dolby Cinema montage as a future film. Maybe not being released on Hulu after all? #CinemaCon
— Caleb Williams @ CinemaCon (@KnightGambit) April 2, 2019
Hulu does not offer this format, and at this time, it’s not known if Disney+ will. But it suggests that the movie is intended to get some kind of a run in theaters, which may be easier for Disney than to renegotiate existing contracts with everyone involved (as, at this point, they’re probably ready to move on with their careers). The New Mutants was also previously expected to get a run in the IMAX format, and that might still be an option if Dolby is. The film is reportedly targeting a PG-13 rating, which suggests that the film will be in-line with what Fox wanted from the movie as opposed to what Boone wanted to push for. In hindsight, Fox would have just been better off releasing the film as it was back in 2018 instead of causing a massive upheaval to the movie’s promotional cycle, which has likely damaged the image of the movie with those paying attention.
The New Mutants will (allegedly) be released in theaters on August 2, 2019.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
