Today’s news is something of a mixed bag if you are a fan of the X-Men franchise. While there are plenty of titles on the horizon, we may have to wait a little longer than we initially anticipated to welcome in new entries in the expanding X-verse.
One film we won’t have to wait longer for is the Untitled Deadpool Sequel. The David Leitch-directed sequel is moving its release from June 1st to May 18th, 2018, meaning we’ll all be able to catch up with our favourite Merc with a Mouth a whole two weeks earlier than planned. Plot details are thin on the ground for the hotly anticipated sequel, but we do know that Ryan Reynolds will be back in the red and black get-up, joined by returning cast mates Morena Baccharin, Brianna Hildebrand and T.J. Miller as well as new additions Josh Brolin and Zazie Beets playing fan-favourite characters Cable and Dominio.
Now to the bad news. Despite positive buzz from an atmospheric teaser, Josh Boone’s The New Mutants has been pushed back a massive 10 months, moving form its relatively close release of April 13th to February 22nd, 2019. Collider reports that while the film has been testing OK, the studio is apparently keen to re-work the film to be the scariest version that it can be. The film, which focuses on a group of young mutants being held in a research facility against their will, may benefit from being further away from the release dates of Avengers: Infinity War and now the new date for Deadpool 2, but it is still a shame to have to wait longer for a film which looks to be an exciting genre shake-up for the long-running superhero franchise.
The third bit of news surrounding the X-Men franchise is one that seems to be becoming something of a regular item. Channing Tatum’s long-gestating movie featuring the staff-wielding, card-packing mutant Gambit has lost yet another director. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has become the latest director to leave the project, following departures from Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow), once again citing the age-old excuse of ‘creative differences.’ In the wake of this news, Gambit has also had its release shifted, moving from February 14, 2019 to June 8th, 2019, marking it as a tent-pole summer blockbuster. We expect that they will be announcing a new director soon, and hopefully they’ll manage to make one stick around long enough to start shooting the thing.
As it stands, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the only upcoming X-film not to have its release date shifted, with the Simon Kinberg-directed installment still set to arrive on November 2nd, 2018.
