When people think of Marvel movies, many will jump to the complete domination of the superhero genre by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though it was 2000’s X-Men and its box office success that paved the way for the MCU’s accomplishments. Nearly two decades later, the series is set to come to an end with its seventh installment, X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The film is slated to land in theaters on June 7th, with early projections estimating that the film could take in $50 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Unfortunately, landing in the low end of that estimate could result in the lowest opening weekend for that franchise behind the original X-Men‘s $54 million opening weekend.
In Dark Phoenix, “The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out of control. During a rescue mission in outer space, Jean is nearly killed when she’s hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. The X-Men must now band together to save her soul and battle aliens that want to use Grey’s new abilities to rule the galaxy.”
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One reason that expectations for the upcoming film are so low is due to the disappointment of the previous film in the franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse. That film sits at 47% positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to its predecessor, X-Men: Days of Future Past, which has 90% positive reviews.
Another complication is that the film has undergone many delays to accommodate reshoots, which some fans might interpret as the film having a number of issues. Regardless of how the final film turns out, it was initially slated to hit theaters in November of last year, which was then pushed to February of this year, only to now have a June 7th release date. Fans who may have initially been excited for the film a year ago might be dismayed at how long they’ve had to wait and potentially aren’t impressed with the trailers.
Additionally, with Disney gaining the rights to the X-Men, this will be the last film featuring these actors’ portrayals of their characters, with some audiences likely focused more on the future of the franchise than this installment.
Check out X-Men: Dark Phoenix in theaters on June 7th.
Are you looking forward to checking out the new film? Let us know in the comments below!
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