bad attitudes. big powers. new mutants. #NewMutants is in theaters August 28. pic.twitter.com/GQxd5fAdSQ
โ New Mutants (@NewMutantsFilm) August 7, 2020
After years of waiting, X-Men fans might finally have their wishes granted later this month, as a new TV spot for The New Mutants confirms that it still hopes to hit theaters on August 28th. In the years since the first trailer was released, The New Mutants has seen its release date pushed back a number of times for various reasons, with some pushes merely being a few weeks while others have been months. We’re currently three weeks away from its intended release, but with movie theaters around the world still largely closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s unclear if enough will be open to warrant a theatrical release.
Videos by ComicBook.com
When the first trailer was unveiled back in the fall of 2017, The New Mutants had an April 2018 release date. Three months before that release date, it was delayed by 10 months to February of 2019. With a trailer having premiered months earlier, audiences were shocked by the extended delay, though X-Men: Dark Phoenix also earned delays, making the timing of these two franchise films being delayed more understandable to fans. Two months after that first delay was revealed, New Mutants was pushed once again to August of 2019.
Complicating matters in 2019 was Disney acquiring 20th Century Fox, which included New Mutants. After more than a year of fans waiting for updates about the project, it was announced in May of 2019 that New Mutants would be pushed to April of 2020.
As late as March of this year, New Mutants was still slated for an April release, only for the coronavirus pandemic to take a catastrophic effect on the movie industry. While social distancing and quarantine protocols saw productions on new projects halted, these measures also saw movie theaters close their doors as a number of highly anticipated movies pivoted to VOD release instead of theatrical debuts.
Amid all the various New Mutants delays, fans have been hoping that it could get released on a streaming service to end the long wait. Given that Disney had also acquired Hulu in their deal with Fox, and the PG-13 rating of the film, it seemed like an obvious opportunity to unveil the film on the service, only for Disney to stick to their theatrical intentions.
American movie theaters are still largely closed as of this writing, though international markets have been able to contain the pandemic more effectively and resume normal operations. Drive-in theaters have seen a surge in attendance, though it seems unlikely that enough theaters will be open domestically in a matter of weeks for New Mutants to find open markets.
Stay tuned for details on The New Mutants ahead of its planned August 28th release.
Do you think the film will still hit theaters? Let us know in the comments below!