Another bit of X-Men news coming from The Hollywood Reporter concerns Josh Boone‘s New Mutants, which could be ready to go into production as soon as this spring. It’s likely getting the production bump-up due to Gambit being placed on hold until a new director can be found.
One of Fox’s best hopes may be The New Mutants, a spinoff featuring superpowered teens with some overlap with the flagship X-Men. According to sources, director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) could even begin rolling cameras by spring.
There’s huge potential for New Mutants as it could allow for a reboot within the franchise or further connect to the First Class side of things, with rumors of James McAvoy and Alexandra Shipp being eyed to return in their roles.
Simon Kinberg confirmed Xavier playing a part in the film. He also mentioned the film would be set in the 1990’s. I’m a little curious if they’ve changed things since May due to Apocalypse‘s underwhelming box office performance.
“Right now, as the movie exists, Professor X would be a part of a New Mutants movie.”
Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) were reportedly being eyed to play Wolfsbane and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Morgan) as Magik, both actresses seemed very open for to the roles when asked in interviews.
Here’s Williams’ quote to EW when asked about her involvement.
“I can’t say much about it at all, but I would absolutely love to be a part of it, [and] to be a part of the Marvel family,” Williams said about possibly joining the X-Men spin-off when asked recently by EW. “New Mutants looks absolutely incredible and I’ve always loved the idea of spin-offs and [director] Joshua Boone is incredibly talented. So, yeah, sign me up.”
IGN also got this quote from Anya from August.
“I think the world is really fascinating,” she said. “I’d love to be a part of it. It would be wonderful.”
Boone has somewhat confirmed the lineup will include Warlock, Wolfsbane, Magik, Mirage, Sunspot and Cannonball.
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber are currently reworking Boone’s recent draft of the script.
Another school of thought has been the film could be the PG-13 arm of the Deadpool franchise, possibly including Brianna Hildebrand‘s Negasonic Teenage Warhead alongside more classic characters. As much as I enjoy the period pieces, I’m not entirely sure the target audiences are digging it.
Connecting the film to Deadpool and a more modern team sounds like it’s something audiences are a little more interested in seeing at the moment. It also makes sense with Colossus (also an X-Force member) being rebooted and Magik being his little sister.
X-Men: Apocalypse didn’t make a huge impression on critics or even audiences, while it made $544 million worldwide (over $200 million less than X-Men: Days of Future Past earned) the domestic total of $155 million dipped under what the original X-Men made in 2000. Having New Mutants separate itself from the First Class era might be in it’s best interest at the moment as it’s now being reported that the studio is looking to “reconfigure” the main movies.
Bryan Singer (as we’ve been suggesting for months) will not be returning for the next film. Franchise producer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg is said to “reconfiguring” things with the idea that Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy could still be involved.
Elsewhere, the reset button has been pressed. Sources say the flagship series will be reconfigured, with Simon Kinberg, overseer of the franchise as producer and writer, working on a new script. Singer, who directed four X-Men movies, will not be returning, according to insiders, but the script is being written with Lawrence, Fassbender and McAvoy optimistically in mind.
However, with their contracts reportedly up that seems unlikely without the studio giving them big raises to stick around.
What’s more, stars Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult have come to the end of their three-picture contracts. If new studio chairman Stacey Snider wants them to return, they won’t come cheap. “You’re gauged by the success of the franchise,” says box-office analyst Paul Degarabedian. “This one didn’t engender the love of previous movies. It’s time to go back to the drawing board.”
There’s been rumblings of a reboot for some time and Josh Boone’s New Mutants depending on it’s setting could be the film that reconfigures the timeline into something that can more closely connect with a successful project like Deadpool.
However, I wouldn’t be shocked if New Mutants replaces the next X-Men film, becoming X-Men: New Mutants.
It’s looking like New Mutants could land on June 29th, 2018.
SOURCE: THR