'New Mutants' Director Josh Boone Says His Original Cut Is The One Being Released This Year

The strange saga of The New Mutants movie continues! Josh Boone's horror-infused X-Men spin-off has been shuffled from one release date to the next, with reports of massive reshoots and other behind-the-scenes tomfoolery rumored. The movie is now set to open this year, and there's even a new trailer on the way next week. But that's not all. According to Boone himself, the version that's finally being released is his original cut.

Let's recap, shall we? New Mutants was originally set for an April 13, 2018 opening, and a trailer aligned with that release made its way to theaters and the internet. And then it all went to hell. The release date moved to February 22, 2019, then to August 2, 2019, before finally ending up on April 3, 2020. Rumor had it that producers wanted massive reshoots, but those reshoots never seemed to actually happen. In March of 2019, New Mutants star Maisie Williams said the reshoots still hadn't been done, and added that she had no idea when the movie would ever come out.

Then, right before Christmas, word arrived that a new New Mutants trailer was dropping in January. New Mutants director Josh Boone confirmed this on Instagram, and now he's provided yet another Instagram-based update. When asked if the version of the film arriving in theaters this year would be his original cut, Boone replied in the affirmative.

Boone also confirmed the trailer would arrive on January 6.

This raises more than a few questions. If this really is Boone's preferred original cut, what the hell was all that talk about reshoots about? Of course, Boone isn't an impartial party here – he could be trying to save face, or he could be contractually obliged to not talk trash about whatever cut is being released. But I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt here, and accept that we really are getting his cut of the movie. Which is a win for artistic integrity, all things considered. Unless the movie turns out to be bad.

All that said, I'm looking forward to finally seeing this thing. I quite enjoyed the trailer, and I particularly dug the horror movie vibe the footage was giving off. Here's hoping New Mutants turns out to be worth the wait.