Zach Lisabeth of Looper is correct in saying that coronavirus shut pretty much EVERYTHING down when it came to the movies, but when it came to The New Mutants it’s also correct that there were problems before the pandemic, and in truly irritating fashion it all boils down to Josh Boone, the director of New Mutants, butting heads with just about anyone that couldn’t see his vision for the show. A type of Stephen King meets John Hughes story would be interesting enough just to think about since the New Mutants has almost always been a group that’s been rife with issues considering that the group started out young and as a result had all the teenage angst and the uncertainty about dealing with their powers that one could imagine. But Boone wanted to go dark for his vision and Fox just wasn’t having it since they wanted to market this movie to kids, meaning it couldn’t go as dark as Logan or Deadpool and had to be dialed back. When Fox got a look at what Boone was doing though they agreed on the lean towards the horror aspect and asked him to redo the project in the way he’d initially wanted. Frustrating, right? It’s kind of like someone telling a painter to color their home one color and then not liking it because of some insane reason but then telling them to paint it back that color once they saw that it really was something special. Oh yes, the irritation is very real. In this case it’s even worse since people were expecting this movie a couple of years ago and fans were chomping at the bit to see it released so that a new batch of mutants could be unleashed on the audience.
But then came the Disney/Fox merger, and things were tossed about again as Dark Phoenix and New Mutants were held in the same chaotic type of Limbo that Magik is known to transport to, complete with nuisances that only the most stoic of directors could possibly deal with. But when Dark Phoenix tanked, Disney suddenly became uncertain about the possibility of New Mutants being able to come out and right the ship so to speak, so it was held off yet again to make certain of…something. That brings us to the current delay, which is hard if not impossible to get around since the coronavirus has caused a nationwide shutdown that can’t be helped, meaning that even a movie that’s already been filmed and is capable of being released to streaming where it might actually appreciated is still being held from the fans, much to the irritation of many. The idea of the New Mutants movie has been teased way too often at this point and people are no doubt still willing to watch, but there has to be a breaking point that’s going to be reached eventually when people are going to say ‘to hell with it’. Ian Sandwell of DigitalSpy has something more to say on this topic. There will always be willing viewers, but Disney’s decision to not release the movie and then slate it for a big screen release only to have to hold onto it again is a series of false starts that has people grinding their teeth at this point.
There’s definitely a process to making and releasing a movie, there’s no doubt of that, but there are those times when it’s hard to fathom just why studio execs think the way they do when it’s already been established that people absolutely want to see a movie and don’t care where it’s shown, be it on streaming, the big screen, or even in a drive-in movie theater. At that point it becomes less about giving the fans what they want and more about the almighty dollar that will continue to flow into their pockets as a result of satisfying the fans. Truthfully it would make a lot more sense to release this movie now and let fans decide whether it was worth the wait or not than sitting on it would be, especially given that it’s not making them nearly as much money as releasing it could. But hey, that’s executive-level thinking, and those of us that aren’t at that level must not understand what business is all about since we’re just here to drop the dough for the movie and be entertained, as per the plan of any movie. If that’s really just a part of how executives think however then it’s clear as to why they tend to lose out big on some movies and yet make big on others. The main point of this is that a lot of people are ready and willing to watch The New Mutants, so maybe it’s time to stop hemming and hawing and throwing up excuses as smoke screens, as people are willing to buy the movie, not the excuses why it’s not here yet. Christopher Rosen of Vanity Fair has his own opinion on the matter.
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