Some ‘X-Men’ Film Projects At Risk After Disney And Fox Deal

Today’s landmark deal between Disney and 21st Century Fox is set to impact the entertainment industry as fans know it. And for fans of Fox’s current slate of X-Men films, there’s a chance that could involve some major changes.

A new article from The Hollywood Reporter brings up that very topic, particularly with Fox’s growing slate of potential X-Men related properties. In particular, a few industry sources cite the planned films with smaller budgets, such as The New Mutants, Gambit, and James Franco’s Multiple Man movie.

“If Disney is an NFL team, then every movie on the calendar is like a Heisman Trophy winner.” One insider says in the piece. “This raises the bar of what is a theatrical release.”

While The New Mutants, which is set to be released in April, will be unscathed under the Disney/Fox deal, it’s potential sequels could be in jeopardy. As New Mutants director Josh Boone explained earlier this year, his goal was to turn the franchise into a trilogy, with each dealing with a different supernatural-based horror trope.

“We brought it to FOX as a trilogy of films, really all based on that long run by Sienkiewicz, and kind of incorporates some stuff from later issues in the ’80s,” said Boone. “These are all going to be horror movies, and they’re all be their own distinct kind of horror movies. This is certainly the ‘rubber-reality’ supernatural horror movie. The next one will be a completely different kind of horror movie… Our take was just go examine the horror genre through comic book movies and make each one its own distinct sort of horror film. Drawing from the big events that we love in the comics.”

According to the report, unless New Mutants does astronomically well, the belief is that future installments – or any other Marvel content that isn’t in a bigger scale – could be regulated to Disney’s planned streaming service.

Gambit, which will star Channing Tatum in the title role, is also a bit of an uncertainty in this situation. After being in development for quite some time, production is finally set to commence in February, with Tatum and Lizzy Caplan starring. The film’s 2019 release would place it in a Disney landscape – meaning that a lesser box office performance could bode badly for other films of that kind.

For now, it’s far too early to tell what’s to come from this Disney and Fox deal. Fans will just have to keep their eyes peeled (and, depending on their favorite character, their hopes up).

Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on May 4, 2018. Thor: Ragnarok is now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include; Black Panther on February 16, 2018, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.

The X-Men Movie Universe continues with The New Mutants on April 13th; Untitled Deadpool Sequel on June 1st; and X-Men: Dark Phoenix on November 2nd.