Director Josh Boone Still Hopes To Follow Through On A 'New Mutants' Trilogy

By Ethan AndertonJune 1, 2020 2:30 pm EST

It's been a long road for the X-Men spin-off The New Mutants to make it to theaters. One of the biggest hold-ups came when 20th Century Fox was purchased by The Walt Disney Company, leaving the studio's future theatrical releases with an uncertain future. Disney still intends to release the movie in theaters this year, but it's anticipated to be the last remnant of Fox's X-Men franchise. Even so, director Josh Boone is hoping the movie will be successful enough for Disney to let him complete a trilogy.

Josh Boone spoke with SFX Magazine (via ComicBook.com) in support of the film's currently scheduled released in August (pushed back from the original April 3 release date that was axed due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down movie theaters). Somehow, Boone is hopeful that a successful box office run for The New Mutants might convince Disney to let him turn it into a franchise. Boone told SFX Magazine:

"Ultimately, after all this time, I was able to make MY New Mutants film, and I'm am proud of it. What I'm hoping for now is that it will be successful enough so the studio will allow me to complete a trilogy. I've got all planned out."

It's nice to have dreams, but at this point, I doubt Disney and Marvel Studios will be keen on starting a franchise that has roots in another comic book series that they had no part in crafting. More than likely, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has already figured out how the characters of X-Men and their spin-off comics can be utilized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that probably won't jibe with whatever plans Josh Boone has come up with.

Honestly, if The New Mutants does come out in August, I can't see the movie being a big hit. There have been diminishing returns from X-Men movies over the years, and a spin-off with more obscure characters isn't likely to make a big splash at the box office. Leaning into the horror genre might help raise curiosity, but probably not enough to convince Disney to pick up the baton from 20th Century Fox and kickstart a whole franchise.

The New Mutants stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Maisie Williams, Blu Hunt, Henry Zaga, Alice Braga,and more. It's currently slated to arrive in theaters on August 28, 2020, but we'll see if that ends up happening or not.